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Hollywood Pro Wrestling


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A quick note: I started a diary entitled Hollywood Pro Wrestling a few months ago. However, I didn't have the time to work it, I missed a few key ideas, and things just weren't working, so it died quite quickly after one show. This diary, however, shall be different. I plan on updating it frequently throughout the summer, and really trying to build something with it. And now, on with....

HOLLYWOOD PRO WRESTLING

TUESDAY, MARCH 16, 2004

STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT

“What the hell are you talking about, Vince? You have to be kidding me! You expect me to just throw away millions and millions of dollars, a ton of publicity, and a chance to become a bigtime star just because you SAY SO?” The words come from Dwayne Johnson, a.k.a. The Rock, who is VISIBLY upset with the man sitting across from him, the one and only Vincent Kennedy McMahon. “You’re trying to tell me that you FORBID me from making my next two movies?”

Vince is sitting back in his chair on the other side of the desk, looking very peeved himself. “Dwayne, the WWE needs a star of your magnitude right now. Buyrates are down, ticket sales are down, gates are down, market share is down, and locker room morale is down! Austin’s retired, Foley’s retired, Taker’s a month from retirement, Hunter’s out of commission, god knows when Angle’s neck is gonna snap forever…we’re losing draws, Dwayne! You’re the biggest star we have, and I need you back here! You’re still under contract to us, and you have to fulfill that commitment. I did you a favor by letting you do those movies while under contract to me!”

“You di…”

“I’m not done!” Vince cuts off the Rock, his ego obviously in full gear. “You were bound to me, Dwayne! I could have just said no, like I did to Austin a few years ago! Instead, what did I do? I paid you, gave you months off at a time, worked around YOUR schedule, and even let you use your name and likeness, which WE owned, to promote your movies!”

“You did ME a favor? Vince, are you retarded? Who gave you massive mainstream advertising? I starred in movies, hosted Saturday Night Live, did commercials, massive publicity tours! That’s free advertising for you! You got a cut of my goddamn movies so you could go finance the XFL and WWE Originals and whatever other retarded business ideas you had!”

“Are you questioning my business skills, Dwayne?” asks Vince, baiting him into a question.

The Rock stays on the offensive: “Vince, any idiot with half a brain is questioning your business skills! You’re running this company into the ground! There’s only so many times I can bail you out, and I’m not going to break contracts I have with Universal and Paramount to do movies! I came back, and I did Wrestlemania XX! I lost at Wrestlemania AGAIN, Vince, just because you asked me to!! I did what you asked, but it’s time for to go! Try and develop a new star for once!”

“What do you call Brock Lesnar?”

“The star that I created, Vince” answers Dwayne, very confidentally. “Who put him over? ME. Taker didn’t make him look good, I DID! And then when you realized you had something that actually WORKED, you burned him out in under two years and made him quit the business! You’re nothing without me, Vince, and you know it!”

Vince leans in, his eyes filled with that familiar evil. “Dwayne, that’s where you’re wrong. You need me a LOT more than I need you. You said that you bought me lots of free publicity. What do you think you were getting, Dwayne? We plastered your damn face all over everything!”

“Vince, I’ve always said that I wanted a place to come home to. I love wrestling in front of massive crowds. I said I was WWE for life. But I’ll be DAMNED if I’m gonna spend time in this fed against my will. I’ll work on my schedule, or I’ll quit. So you have two choices: You let me honor the contract you approved a couple of months ago to make Spy Hunter and Johnny Bravo and I work for you when I can instead of getting a nice long vacation that I deserve, or you try to make me stay and I quit. You have 30 seconds to choose.”

Vince ERUPTS at the end of Rock’s little diatribe, furious about Dwayne Johnson trying to show him up. “YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN WALK INTO MY BOARDROOM AND TELL ME WHAT I CAN AND CANNOT DO? I run this place, NOT YOU! Dwayne, I think you need to remember that! You ARE working for the WWE until Summerslam, and you don’t have a choice. This contract is IRONCLAD!”

Rock sighs deeply, looking somewhat sad, then stands up from his chair. “Vince, I’m sorry it came to this. I quit.”

“You can’t quit! We have a contract, and I refuse to let you out of it!”

Rock’s mouth BARELY turns upward, hinting at a smile, then he pulls out a folder filled with papers. He tosses it on the desk in front of Vince, who just looks at them. “Vince, you’re a goddman fool. Try READING that contract we negotiated in 2001 instead of getting your idiot yes-men to tell you what it says. Basically, if my contractual obligations with a production company is threatened in any way by WWE senior management, my contract is NULL AND VOID. You have done exactly that, so I walk out of here a free man.”

Vince, furious he’s forgotten that detail, fumes for a second before he shoots back at Dwayne: “Well, you might be a free man, but you’re free from EVERYTHING about the WWE ! You’re no longer The Rock! That entire gimmick is trademarked by the WWE! It’s ours!”

“Not exactly, Vince. You remember signing over that limited use clause, right? The one that allows me to use the name ‘The Rock’ in order to advertise my movies? Well, I knew you’d never sell me the gimmick outright after the mistake you made with Hogan, and that if I ever crossed you, you’d use it as a bargaining chip. So there’s another clause in that little contract of mine. If, for any reason, my contract with World Wrestling Entertainment is not fulfilled by either myself or the WWE, I have the right to buy all rights to the ‘The Rock’ trademark and full advertising rights for a price set by the Board of Directors. I spoke with Linda a few months ago regarding that price, and she said that it’d go for about $25-30 million or so. So basically, I dip into my fortune, buy my gimmick, and walk out on your pathetic ass forever. Do you smell what I’m cooking, Vince?” asks Dwayne with a smarmy, shit-eating grin on his face.

“FINE! WALK OUT! BUY YOUR DAMN GIMMICK!” screams McMahon as Rock starts to turn around to leave. “BUT REMEMBER, ROCK, YOU’RE GONE FOREVER! FOREVER! YOU’RE TURNING YOUR BACK ON WRESTLING! YOU’LL NEVER STEP INTO A RING AGAIN!

This draws Rock’s attention, causing him to turn around in front of the office door. “Vince, I’m confused. How is it that I’ll never wrestle again?”

Vince laughs at Rock: “Who the hell is gonna hire you? Jerry Jarrett? He’s not looking for another part-timer! Hell, they’re almost broke to begin with! Who else? Ring of Honor? That’s HILARIOUS…the Rock in Ring of Honor! They ain’t filiming another Odd Couple movie, Dwayne…but it’s not like you could get a part in that movie anyways. They’d want a GOOD actor, like Steven Seagal or Vin Diesel, for that role!”

“You seem to be forgetting something, Vince: I’m The Rock! Where I go, people will follow! My family’s been in this business for 3 generations, and we have our fair share of connections. So me and my father, whose letter of resignation will be in your mailbox by the end of the day, won’t have any problem taking care of this little problem. Before this little incident, me, my dad, and my buddies would always get together and bash the HELL out of you! We analyzed everything you did, and in the end, we KNEW we could do this better than you. And now, Vince….now’s my chance to show you exactly what I know about this business.” The Rock heads for the door and swings it open, with the small grin having totally disappeared. “You’ve fucked a lot of people over in your time, Vince. But I’m not Bret Hart, Vince. You’ll live to regret this one.” With that, Dwayne Johnson slams the door shut, leaving a seething Vince McMahon behind.

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 2004

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK

"So wait," I said as we waited in mid-day traffic downtown. "You want ME to be booking this new promotion of yours?"

Dwayne turned to me, looking very businesslike. “Jon, how long have we known each other? We hung out in high school back in Bethlehem, we played ball together at Miami, and you and I have been friends ever since. You know just as much about wrestling as I do, and that’s not an easy accomplishment. You helped me BECOME the Rock, Jon! Between you, Dad, and Tim, that idiot McMahon won't know what hit him!”

"Wait, TIM is on board for this? Since when does Tim know shit about the wrestling business?"

Dwayne smiled knowingly, then reassured me: “Don’t worry, I’m all too aware of how little Tim knows about this business. But last I checked, you and Dad don’t know anything about how to handle a major corporation. Tim’s one hell of a businessman, Jon. He made his first million faster than I did! That’s pretty damn impressive, and it’s enough to get him a job.” Dwayne put the soda he had into the cup holder, then smiled once again, this time a little more forcefully. “If we’re gonna show McMahon who the real boss is here, we’re gonna need smooth financial planning and some crack angles to show his punk ass up!”

"Is this why you’re doing this, Dwayne?" I exclaimed sarcastically. "You’re trying to build up from this tiny little promotion just so you can prove Vince McMahon wrong? I mean, if that’s the reason you want to do this, then why not start bigger? You’ve got a lot of friends in the WWE, and some of ‘em would join with you! I mean, why not just team up with the Jarretts down in TNA, or raid the WWE roster, throw a bunch of money into this, and get yourself all over the networks?"

Dwayne looked back at me with a self-satisfied grin on his face, obviously content with his upcoming answer. “Jon, I won’t lie to you. That’s part of the reason that I’m doing this. I’d love to put Vince in a place where he can’t claim that he’s the reason I’m a success. Everyone with a brain knows that I’m the one who invented my character and made myself a star. Same with Austin and Foley and all those guys. Vince didn’t make them, they made themselves. And when I take McMahon down, it’ll be one of the sweetest feelings ever. But that’s not the only reason, Jon.”

I was still in the dark with where Dwayne was going with this. I mean, what else did he have left to do in wrestling? "Dwayne, what is this mysterious ‘other goal’ that you have with this federation you wanna start up? Spill it, man."

Dwayne takes a deep breath before starting to speak. “Jon, you know how I got popular. I got hot on the microphone, and people started responding to me. That’s how Steve got popular. He gave that speech at King of the Ring ’96, and that’s where it all started. Hogan couldn’t wrestle for shit, but he was great on the mic, and EVERYONE loved him. That’s how the megastars get made, Jon. They get on the microphone, and they make people care about what they’re saying. They bring them into the moment, they make them feel connected to the character, the story. It’s not an easy thing to do, Jon, but when that happens, it’s what makes professional wrestling so damn good. Foley might have been the best at that. He was incredible at it, and that’s why he was so damn popular in the end.

"But Vince…Vince doesn’t get it. He thinks that wrestling is all about sex jokes and random swerves and that type of thing. I know he’s wrong. You think I liked having to make my character all jokes? Sure, it’s nice to throw in some putdowns, but Vince pigeonholed me my entire career in the WWE. I never got to give the speeches like Foley gave when he went out. I knew I could do it, but Vince made me do jokes about monkey ass and stuff like that. Now, the fans…they won’t accept me giving those speeches. No matter how good people might think I am, they’ll always think of the laughs first, and that will bug me for the rest of my life."

"Now, I know a lot of people disagree with me about how wrestling should be done. Vince does, but everyone knows he’s a fool. Some people think it’s all about the wrestling, the in-ring action. They have their points, and you gotta be able to bring it in the ring, but that’s not what hooks people. If you hook ‘em with the words, then they’re yours FOREVER. Take the storylines, make ‘em interesting, and build the characters who can talk. It becomes a great story, and then, even if the blowoff isn’t that great, people can look back on the feud that brought them there, and realize that it was totally worth it. That’s what makes for the great feuds: Two guys who can go out there on the stick and have the crowd in the palms of their hands."

"So Jon, that’s what I want to do here. This new federation is going to validate my ideas. It’s going to prove that the key to building a successful company isn’t in the ring, or with swerves, or with some crap like HLA. It’s going to be with hot mic work, interesting feuds, and interesting characters. No more vanilla jobbers, feuding over shampoo, and that kind of crap! I want characters who are distinct, who stand out! And I want you to be the man to lead this company. Well, you and my dad, that is.”

The look of concern on my face immediately stopped him from continuing on, and he asked quickly, “What? What’s the matter?”

"Well, Dwayne..." I stammered for the right words, looking to choose the right words and not offend him: "What do you mean that me AND your dad are in charge? I thought I was the one in charge?"

Dwayne, seemingly relieved, gave me one of his genuine smiles. “Oh, that. Well, you can’t possibly think that I’m gonna give all the power to one person, do you? I thought about putting Dad in charge, but the McMahons are proof that family isn’t always the way to go. Still, I can’t just put you in charge, since I don’t want anyone taking control and dominating the entire fed.” I still didn’t look sold on the idea, so Dwayne changed his tack a little bit. “That’s another reason why Tim’s there. He’s an objective observer who can settle debates and the like. Honestly, it’s the best system I’ve thought up.”

I scratched my chin, weakening with every second. "Well, that is a good point…"

Dwayne, noticing my weakening resistance, went for the kill. “Of course it is, man. It IS me, after all! Since when has good ol’ Dwayne led you wrong? And besides, you know Dad. He’s a really reasonable guy. The two of you always got along fine, and you’re both brilliant wrestling minds. Seriously, I think you’ll learn a lot from each other!”

"Well, I suppose it’s worth a try," I said, which brightened Dwayne up, "but you’ll be around to lend a hand too, right?"

“Well, there’s only so much I can do, Jon. I mean, I AM gonna keep doing these movies. That’s why I quit in the first place. But this thing is gonna be centered in Hollywood, so I can lend a hand sometimes. This is my baby, Jon. I always need to have a place to call home. I just need your help to nurture it.”

I sighed briefly, thinking about that nice $100,000 salary from AT&T I was about to throw away, then turned my eyes back to Dwayne. "You’re on, man. We’re gonna tear this up."

“You won’t regret this, Jon. The only one that’s gonna regret this is Vince.” With that, the happiness in his voice faded, replaced with a businesslike tone. “Well, we don’t have much time. I gotta start filming again in mid-April…although I’ll be at our first show. It’ll be the day before I head out.”

I was shocked with Dwayne’s statement. "You mean we’re gonna be putting on a show in less than a month?"

“Damn straight we are, Jon. Now let’s get to work. This is gonna be a lot of work…………….but a lot of fun.” Somehow, I knew he was right, even as my mind was swimming. “Now, can you be in Hollywood on Friday morning? Dad and Tim are gonna be there, and we’re gonna go over the basics. Who to hire, budgets, production values, the whole deal.”

I think I replied in the positive, but my mind had already taken off, thinking about who the fed needed. Damn, I only have 48 hours to get this ready. This oughta be a LOT of fun. As the car pulled up to the curb by the airport, I stepped out. Dwayne went to close the door, off to wherever, when a thought jumped into my head. I swung the door back open, much to Dwayne’s surprise. “Hey, Dwayne, one more question: What are we gonna call this thing?”

He smiled one last time, and said with a grand gesture, “Hollywood Pro Wrestling. HPW! The future of the business, baby! I’ll see you in LA!” With that, I closed the door and stepped through the doors of the airport, wondering what the hell I had just gotten myself into.

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What's Vince complaining about? He just sold some stock for millions of dollars, didnt he? lol, just joking. I also cant figure out why The Rock quit the WWE cause he didnt want to wrestle but then formed his own promotion to wrestle, lol. Okay, I guess he'll just be owner and do movies. I dunno.

A Dywane Johnson wrestling promotion sounds good in premise, but who will help him book it? Jim Ross? I'll be reading to see how this pans out. ;)

Edited by Nottavictim
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FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2004

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA

I looked down at the sheet of paper Dwayne had faxed me the night before as I pulled into the office complex just off the main drag. I swerved into the spot, leaving the rental at a sharp angle. Still, after scanning the area I realized it might be the best job in the entire lot. Seriously, people on the West Coast need to learn how to drive. I cursed as I nearly backed into a car that was hardly even in its space, then headed for the door and entered the building.

Even though it was only March, the ice-cool air conditioning of the building hit me and I shuddered reflexively as I walked towards the front desk. She told me that Dwayne and Rocky were waiting in the offices they had rented for the building up on the fourth floor. I took the elevator up and walked down the hall, taking note of the HPW banner that already decorated the wall. Man, Dwayne really wasn’t wasting any time with this. I scanned the offices, then heard Dwayne’s extremely distinctive (read: loud) laugh coming from behind a set of double doors down the hall. I knocked on the door, then immediately slipped into the room.

I looked around and saw Dwayne sitting at the head of a table. He had a broad grin plastered across his face as always, and his feet were up on the desk. He looked right at home, and gestured for me to sit down. I sat down across from his father, Rocky Johnson. He was still talking to his son, and it gave me a chance to look him over. Even though he had gotten older, he was still an impressive size. There was a bit of a gut starting to form, but he was in MUCH better shape than most men his age were. He didn’t have the same twinkle in his eye that Dwayne did (I guess that came from his mom’s side), but there was a definite intelligence to him. I knew he knew the business front to back from previous conversations I had had with him, and I was kinda intimidated knowing I’d be working with the guy. Still, I had faith in myself too. I was a student of the game, despite the fact that I’d never wrestled in my life, and I was sure that I’d make a hell of a booker. But if I…

“Yo, Jon, you ready to get this thing started?” asked Dwayne, knocking me back into reality. I looked over and saw both Dwayne and Rocky looking back at me with bemused expressions on their faces. I blushed a little bit, embarrassed to be caught daydreaming, and grabbed my papers. Dwayne got his things together, but before he spoke again, I noticed something.

“Hey, Dwayne, where’s Tim? Wasn’t he supposed to be here?”

“Oh, don’t worry about Tim, he’ll be here soon enough” said Dwayne, brushing the concern aside. “The first things I wanted to deal with don’t concern him anyways. Now, Dad, you know Jon, and Jon, you know Dad. You guys are the ones in charge, so you have a lot of work to do together. Hope you’re ready for a lot of late nights.”

Rocky reached his hand across the table, and I stretched out to shake his hand. His hand crushed mine, and I tried to shrug it off, even though I’m sure that Rocky noticed the look on my face and smiled just a little bit. We sat back down, and Rocky said, “Good to see you again, Jon. Looks like you’ve slimmed down a bit since your Miami days, huh?” I had indeed slimmed down, as I was a solid 25 pounds lighter than I had been during my time at WR with the Hurricanes. “Anyways, great to see you again. This is gonna be a lotta fun working together like this.” I gave him a polite nod, and we both turned to Dwayne, ready to get things going.

“All right, guys. Here’s what we know so far.” Dwayne pushed a button on a remote, and a projection screen slid along the wall behind him. He pressed it again, and a projector on the ceiling fired up, displaying a large graphic behind him with a lot of data. “Now, as you can see, you’re going to have a VERY substantial budget. I’ve got the money to throw around, and I don’t want this thing going belly-up right away. For a promotion of this size, $8,000,000 is gonna keep this puppy afloat for the long haul. Other than that, we’ll be starting small, though. We won’t advertise or merchandise heavily, since it just doesn’t make sense at this state of HPW. Tim has those figures, and he’ll run them by us in a moment. Any questions so far?”

Both of us shook our heads slowly just as the door swung open again and Tim Lipman walked in, looking frazzled. “Fuck this stupid Los Angeles traffic. Dwayne, I have NO idea how I let you talk me into moving to this horrible city.” Dwayne chuckled, as did I. This was typical Tim, getting hassled by every little thing that went against him. Still, it was hard to feel bad for the guy, considering he was worth something in the neighborhood of $10 million. I have no idea how he was able to play the market for that much, especially since he only started with $2,000, but whatever he did was enough to retire him for life at 28. Looks like Dwayne was able to rope him in for this part-time gig, though. Those Miami ties really do last forever. What made this all the more interesting was that Tim never really shared our passion for wrestling. I believe his pet term for it was “hick interpretive dance”, which never failed to draw a look of disgust from me, Dwayne, and (I would assume) Rocky.

“Forget the traffic, Tim. You’re late. See, Jon and Dad are already here.” Tim grunted quick hellos to both of them and took a seat at the other end of the table, across from Dwayne. He pulled some files out of his briefcase and slid them out in front of him.

“So, where are you guys so far?” asked Tim, now in full-on business mode. “Dwayne, have you briefed them on the budget we’re planning on using?”

“Not yet, Tim. I wanted them to come up with a preliminary roster first, and then we’d deal with the business end of things. So guys, before I let you go wild, here’s the deal: I want to stay away from the WWE’s way of creating characters. I’m tired of Garrison Cade and Mark Jindrak and those types of characters. I want everyone to have something worth remembering them for. So Dad, Jon, let’s see what you guys have drawn up.”

Both Rocky and I pulled out a sheets of paper, containing our ideas for preliminary rosters. We each gave a copy to each other, as well as to Dwayne and Tim. We scanned over the lists, and both looked right up at each other. We were obviously WAY apart on this.

“Whoa, Rocky, there’s a LOT of big names on this list! Randy Savage, Dusty Rhodes, Carly Colon Sr, Road Warrior Animal…”

He smiled up at me, obviously pleased with his work. “Yeah, I know! These guys know how to work a crowd like nothing else! They’ll get people way behind them, and give us the word of mouth we need to get started.”

“You’re kidding, though? I thought we were trying to do things differently, not capitalize on a bunch of nonstalgia? If we bring these guys in, we’re gonna flop!”

Rocky was suddenly defensive as he glared at me, looking to justify his choices. “And I suppose these kids are gonna turn it around? Who the hell is gonna come see a show for these people? Dwayne and I have been doing research on the indy guys for months now, and I’ve never heard of half these people!”

“That’s the point, Rocky!” I said in a slightly condescending voice. “The point is that we’re gonna create this from the ground up! We’ll give these guys an identity, and then we’ll have our new creation. This is gonna be the new way to do wrestling, and we’re gonna need to do it with NEW people!”

He scoffed at the suggestion. “That’s crap! We need to get these people into the building before we can hit them with our new stuff! I don’t care what you say, Sonjay Dutt and Austin Lee are not gonna get people into these seats! We need a hook, and guys like Savage are gonna do that!”

Dwayne quickly stepped in, cutting me off before I could speak. “Hey, guys, there’s plenty of room to compromise. But you guys DID have a couple of things in common here. I notice you both had Chance Beckett on your rosters, and you both liked this guy named Enygma too.”

“Yeah, Dwayne, that Enygma guy is quite a horse. He’ll make a great monster for us” chimed in Rocky. He turned to me and said, “Unless Mr. Fidrat here has a problem with that too.”

“No, I don’t have a problem with him, Rocky” I said in an indignant tone. “I DID put him on my list, remember?” He backed down a bit, allowing me a chance to speak. “Anyways, this is the important thing to remember: We need to create useful new profiles for these people, and I get the feeling that Randy Savage isn’t going to be as open to changing his entire character around.”

Tim rang in for the first time during the meeting, much to my delight: “Now I don’t know a ton about this stuff, but I do know that we’re trying to run this thing efficiently. I have a printout here featuring salary demands of a lot of people. Randy Savage wants $245,000 a month to work here! That’s way, WAY too expensive for this company!” I smirked a little as Dwayne nodded and said, “He’s got a point, Dad. We’re gonna have to be careful with our spending and everything.”

“WE HAVE EIGHT MILLION DOLLARS!” exclaimed Rocky. “Why the heck won’t we use it? We have a lot more money than any other fed in our position, and if we’re smart, we can quickly overpower them with some big stars on our roster. We’d be competing with TNA in a year’s time if we’re smart about things!”

Dwayne nodded his head in agreement, although it was hard to tell how much he agreed. “Well Dad, that is a good point…but we do have to run on a budget. Here’s the deal: You start working the phones, and you tell me who’s willing to sign on with us, and how much they’re gonna cost us a month, OK? Jon, you go through your indy guys, tell me who’s gonna come in here, and figure out how to package them. Tim and I are gonna go over the financial stuff, and we’ll let you know where we stand then.

……

After eight hours and a lot of bickering, it looked like we finally had our roster all laid out. I ended up winning out in this one, since my choices made a lot more sense financially. Still, Rocky had gotten a couple of people signed up rather cheaply (by overpaid old fart standards). I can’t imagine that they’re gonna do anything to really help this place out, though. Hopefully this doesn’t backfire on us. Anyways, as we left, Dwayne scheduled another meeting in Hollywood on April 11th, which was about 2 weeks before the first show, which was tentatively titled HPW Kick Start (one of Rocky’s ideas, which he fought tooth and nail for. I had wanted HPW Genesis, but those are the breaks…). Tim had gotten a few sponsors under contract, which would hopefully pick up most of the extra cost that we had for Rocky’s “name” talent. Anyways, Tim gave us a sheet with the basic stats of the federation, as well as our roster stapled onto it. Here’s what we were looking at right now:

Hollywood Pro Wrestling

Fed Size: Small

Public Image: 40%

Finances: $8,000,000

Risk: 70%

Production Values: 18%

Advertising: 5%

Merchandising: 5%

ROSTER:

- Typhoon (50 Over, 38 Charisma, Old School Heel, Heel): God, this one better work out. He’s horrendous on the mic and in the ring, which is exactly what Dwayne wanted to avoid. He’s also costing us almost $40,000 an appearance, which is twice what Tim had recommended us spending on wrestlers. And I really don’t think there are legions of Typhoon fans out there waiting for his big return. Regardless, he was here, and in our main event. Shoot me now.

- Paul London (48 Over, 55 Charisma, No Gimmick Needed, Heel): Oddly enough, the biggest name that I got to bring in for HPW was the exact opposite of Dwayne’s vision. Paul London doesn't have a ton of talent on the stick, but he's a great wrestler with some name value who should be able to help carry out some great matches. London's the designated "No bullshit, just wrestling" guy in the fed, and he won't take kindly to people wasting his precious time that could be spent kicking ass.

- Xstasy (40 Over, 84 Charisma, Fun Babyface, Face): Xstasy is a high-flyer extraordinare with the ability to really get the crowd behind him. He can hold the crowd in the palm of his hand with his words AND his offense. People will soon be experiencing the Joy of X throughout HPW! I’m real proud of this one

- Brutus Beefcake (40 Over, 60 Charisma, Old School Face, Face): He was SLIGHTLY better than Typhoon, but not by much. He still couldn’t wrestle, but he was passable on the mic, and wasn’t costing quite as much (only $30,000 per appearance for him), but he was still gonna be dead weight to our roster.

- Chance Beckett (35 Over, 70 Charisma, Clean Cut, Heel): Chance Beckett considers himself to be a good ol' Catholic boy who practices clean living. He's not a fan of the culture that seems to have taken hold in wrestling today, and he's a firm believer that he can push people to the right direction. He uses his above-average mic skills to help change the lives of his fellow wrestlers and the audience for the better.

- GQ (34 Over, 80 Charisma, Suave, Face): GQ is the ultimate ladies man. He's always bragging about his modeling career and his many, many women (although people never seem to actually SEE him with women). GQ is all about the ladies, and uses a triple jump moonsault called the Lady Killer to win his matches.

- Austin Lee (24 Over, 80 Charisma, Obnoxious, Heel): Austin Lee has his sights set on the promised land of the WWE, and is willing to do whatever it takes to get noticed. His idea: Get involved in just about everything, whether it involves him or not. He may not be well-liked, but he'll certainly gain notoriety that way...

- Lucien Van Wurl (24 Over, 87 Charisma, Pretentious Artist, Heel): Lucien was an acclaimed avant-garde artist for many years on the rise on the LA art scene. He grew bored with abstract art, however, and quit immediately to try his hand at what he considered to be the greatest performance art untouched by his brilliance: pro wrestling. He has incredible plans for this to become his greatest masterpiece, and will let NOTHING stand in the way of his vision. His main goal: Adding JUST a hint of gold around his waist...

- Fabulous Frederick (20 Over, 87 Charisma, Legitimate Athlete, Heel): Frederick was an accomplished middleweight boxer before he gave it up, looking for a new challenge. His flamboyant style (in the Don King sense, not the Liberace sense), love of fighting, and vibrant personality were a perfect fit for HPW. However, Frederick is a wee bit arrogant about his success in the boxing world, and considers himself above the rest of HPW thanks to his success in legitimate fighting

- Greg Pawluk (20 Over, 35 Charisma, Loner, Face): Pawluk is extremely, extremely, EXTREMELY quiet. He doesn't really talk to anyone, and when he does, he mumbles. He likes to be left alone at all times, hates dealing with people, and just wants to wrestle his match and go home. He basically lives in his own little shell, despite many (unsuccessful) attempts to have him break out.

- Enygma (16 Over, 81 Charisma, Split Personality, Tweener): Enygma has a very bad case of split personality disorder going on. One of his personalities is extremely depressed, and borderline suicidal. However, the other personality is very, VERY perky. TOO perky. We're talking Kathie Lee Gifford on ecstacy perky. Needless to say, it's not too hard to figure out who's in control of Enygma at any particular time.

- Feltcher (16 Over, 87 Charisma, Weirdo, Face): Feltcher...I don't really know how to describe him. Basically, he's a guy wearing a skeleton mask. That's his gimmick. He obviously wears the mask to get attention, since he always references his mask, and how cool it is, and how he likes to freak people out. Still.....a skeleton mask. How odd.

- Dan "Rock Of" Gibraltar (10 Over, 81 Charisma, Obsessed Fan, Tweener): Dan was drawn to this fed for one reason only: The Rock was part of it. He's idolized Dwayne since his days as Rocky Maivia (he might have been his only fan back then), and he LOVES the guy. He says he's willing to do just about anything to work with Rock. Figured we might as well run with that, so he's gonna be a stalker-esque guy.

- Bruce Lancaster (0 Over, 80 Charisma, Journalist, Face): Bruce here is an interesting case. You see, he's never really been a pro wrestler. He was a reporter from KLAD in Los Angeles who wanted to get an exclusive story on the Rock after his departure from the WWE and his new fed. He really wanted to get involved, though, so we gave him a spot on the roster. He'll try and work his way through the ranks to get a good feel for what it's like to be an indy wrestler. We're betting on it taking 3 shows before he quits.

Well, that’s all of them. Now it’s time…oh, wait, there’s this one other guy you might have heard of:

- The Rock (100 Over, 100 Charisma, Authority Figure, Face, Non-wrestler): C'mon, what could I possibly say about the guy? It's THE ROCK! He's here, he's a non-wrestler, he won't be on all the shows, and he'll kick ass on the mic and in the ring as only the Rock can.

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HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA

SATURDAY, APRIL 23, 2004

The meeting on the 11th went horribly again. Rocky and I obviously didn’t agree at all on how to run the promotion. We had one feud that we both agreed on, and Dwayne signed off on that, but the World Title scene was a total clusterfuck. I was pushing hard for London to be the first champ. I thought he’d make a great guy to headline, since he’d put on good matches, be in sharp contrast to the rest of the fed, and really give himself a chance to make an impact early on. Plus, he was young and had limitless potential. Meanwhile, Rocky thought the way to go was to give it to Beefcake or Typhoon. He wanted the belt to have a “veteran influence”, and he thought that London and Xstasy would learn a thing or two about wrestling from him. I had to pinch myself to make sure he had really said that: He thought that PAUL LONDON needed to learn about wrestling from TYPHOON! Still, it was hard to tell where we were gonna go from here. Dwayne said he’d make a decision on this one, and he wouldn’t make it until the day of the show.

On the day of the show, I didn’t see Dwayne at all backstage. With about 10 minutes to go before the show went on the air, his limo came screeching up to the door of the tiny little building we had rented out, and Dwayne came sprinting out, dressed in full wrestling attire.

“Dwayne, why are you in your gear? Are you wrestling tonight?” I asked, extremely confused by the situation. “And what’s the deal with the World Title? Are we gonna with London or Typhoon? Or did you want Xstasy or Brutus to hold it?”

Dwayne flew right by me, barely stopping to talk. “Not wrestling, Jon, but I wanted to be all geared up tonight. And I’ll explain the World Title thing later. Right now, I’m gonna go get that crowd warmed up. See ya in a bit, Jon!”

And just like that, HPW was live and running.

HPW KICK START

SATURDAY, APRIL 23, 2004

The Rock Introduces The World To HPW

IF YA SMELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!

The Rock’s music (apparently that was purchased from the WWE as well) hits over the speaker system as Dwayne Johnson, The Rock, heads out to the ring. The small crowd (only 126 people…I thought our first show might draw more attention) is nonetheless going nuts for the Rock as he slides into the ring with a microphone.

Rock: “FINALLY…The Rock HAS COME BACK…to HOL-LY-WOOD!” This gets a huge pop from the 126 people in the crowd, and brings a smile to the Rock’s face. A small “ROCKY! ROCKY!” chant pops up in the crowd, and the Rock acknowledges it with a smile, allowing it to burn itself out before he continues on,

Rock: “Welcome to a new era in professional wrestling! Because TONIGHT is the night that Vince McMahon’s WWE empire starts to crumble! Tonight is the night that we show the world the RIGHT way to build a wrestling organization!”

The crowd cheers again, and Rock pauses, seemingly deep in thought. However, he pulls himself out of his trance and goes back into his long-awaited speech.

Rock: “For here, in this small little arena in Hollywood, California…” The Rock pauses for a moment and allows for the cheap pop, which the fans immediately give him, then goes right back into gear. “…tonight, here in Hollywood, history will be made! For the Rock is going to show everyone else in this business that it’s not about twists and turns. No, no, no, that’s not the main goal of a wrestling organization. Sure, they’re nice. The Rock admits that: They can be very nice. But they are NOT the way that the Rock is going to run his wrestling organization!”

The crowd has gone quieter, as they want to hear exactly where The Rock is going with this. However, they still pop when Rock takes a break, right on cue. Damn, it really is amazing to watch Dwayne work a crowd like this…

Rock: “Twists and turns are not the way to do it! What about pure wrestling? Nothing but wrestling! Is THAT the way to run a federation? NO!” The crowd is silent now, stunned by the Rock’s response. He quickly goes to explain himself: “Now now now, don’t get the Rock wrong. The Rock LOVES wrestling! It’s what the show boils down to! Pure wrestling can be very good, but the Rock wants to make this very clear: Wrestling is good, but it can only become GREAT when you care about the people in the match!

Look at Mick Foley! The man wasn’t a bad wrestler by any stretch of the imagination! However, Mick Foley became the star he is today not by his matches. There are a LOT of people who throw themselves off ladders and take crazy bumps! But what Mick Foley did was make you care about WHY he took those bumps! He made you care about his safety, his personal life, and everything that happened while he was out in front of a crowd! Mick Foley was at his best when the fans connected with him, understood him, and wanted to see him win because he was the better man! And no matter how many holds and moves some people might know, it doesn’t mean JACK SQUAT unless the people out there care about how you use each and every one of them!”

The crowd has gotten back into it as the Rock has upped the intensity, with the Mick Foley story obviously getting him emotionally invested in his promo.

Rock: “THAT is what we will do here in Hollywood Pro Wrestling! HPW doesn’t want wrestlers! It doesn’t want shock artists! And it damn sure doesn’t want Vince McMahon’s handprints all over it! HPW wants STORYTELLERS! HPW wants men who can go out, tell a story to the people, and then get into the ring and do the exact same thing! And tonight, the revolution BEGINS! Tonight is the night that HPW is put on the MAP! Thank you all for coming, and the Rock thanks each and every one of you for knowing, along with me, how wrestling should be done.”

The Rock drops his mic and heads to the back to a rather small pop. Suddenly, he slips back into the ring, picks up his mic, and says what everyone was waiting to hear:

Rock: “IF YA SMELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL……WHAT THE ROCK….IS…..COOKIN’!”

Road Agent Notes: The Rock debuted his new gimmick (Unique), it got a positive response.

RATING: 100 (I knew we should have counted this as part of the show)

Fabulous Frederick vs. Feltcher

If this is what the Rock was waxing poetic about, I’m not sure that this was the way to go. We start this one off with the debuts of Feltcher and Fabulous Frederick. Frederick was the first one out. He came out in a satin boxing robe, with the hood pulled down over his face, and with blaring techno music in the background. He got into the ring as our announcer, Jack Douglas, introduced him as a successful boxer who wanted to prove he could dominate in all rings. As he celebrates in the ring, Feltcher comes running down to the ring without any music. He slides into the ring, tiptoes up behind Frederick, and taps him on the shoulder. Frederick turns around, and Feltcher yells “BOO!” as loud as he can, then doubles over laughing. The crowd looks on, amused, but Frederick seems far less interested. He swings out and catches Feltcher with a huge right cross that sends Feltcher flying. The rest of the match goes on like that, with Frederick pounding Feltcher all over the ring with brutal punching combinations. Feltcher starts to get a little offense going towards the end of the match, hitting a DDT, but as he hops up, so does Frederick. Frederick hits a right-left combo to the jaw, then finishes with a BRUTAL uppercut that sends Feltcher about four inches off the canvas before slamming back down to earth. Frederick covers for the 1-2-3, which draws a little heat from the crowd. And thus began the revolution.

Road Agent Notes: Fabulous Frederick debuted his new gimmick (Dual-Sport Athlete), it got a negative response. Feltcher debuted his new gimmick (Weirdo), it got a positive response.

RATINGS:

CROWD: 27

MATCH: 61

OVERALL: 44

Bruce's Beat Has Its Series Premiere

As both men head to the back, the small crew we’ve assembled (which is augmented by the wrestlers from backstage) haul out a desk and a backdrop to the middle of the ring. As a couple of chairs are set up, the music for KTTV, the local Fox affiliate, hits, which sends Bruce Lancaster walking down the aisle, dressed in his suit and tie, but with a pair of wrestling tights on his lower half. He takes a seat at the desk and clears his throat briefly before reading off the papers in front of him.

Bruce: “Good evening, I’m Bruce Lancaster. Tonight, we here at HPW welcome you to the first edition of what is sure to be one of the most interesting weekly segments on our program. Every month, I’ll be interviewing a member of the HPW roster in order for YOU, the public at home, to get to know the wonderful members of our HPW team, including myself, Bruce Lancaster! I bring to you: Bruce’s Beat!”

Bruce pauses and puts on his best newscaster smile, pausing for exactly 3 seconds (3 seconds of silence, I note) before he continues on.

Bruce: “Tonight, the first man to appear on Bruce’s Beat is a man who has accomplished a lot throughout his career, but not in the wrestling world. He was a famous artist in the Los Angeles avant-garde community, and has now joined HPW! Why has he come to HPW? Let’s find out! I’d like to welcome…Lucien Van Wurl!”

Some generic artsy-sounding music hits and Lucien appears from behind the screen. He’s shirtless, showing off his fairly muscular (but VERY pale) chest, and is wearing tights with splotches of paint all over them. He walks rigidly down the ramp and slides into the ring, taking a seat next to Bruce’s desk.

Bruce: "So, Lucien…"

Lucien: “NO! You must call me Lucien Van Wurl! That name was carefully craf-TED over many months, so that it shall flow together, much as the mighty Nile has flow-ED through Egypt for so many years!”

The accent that Lucien is using, which sounds vaguely like an Eastern European accent, seems to have Bruce thrown for a loop, as he visibly reacts to every over-pronunciation.

Bruce: "OK…Lucien Van Wurl, first things first: As a famed avant-garde artist who is supposedly worth millions of dollars, why would you feel the need to move onto the wrestling world?”

Lucien: “It is very, very easy to explain the reasons for the actions I have undertaken, Mr. Lancas-TER. For you see, wrestling is a form where many things can be express-ED.” “The world of wrestling…it allows for so much more freedom, so that the dedica-TED artist can take ahold of the world, and simply mold it to every whim…every fantasy….every vision that he hath consider-ED in his head. For here, the ability for perfection in art and in record is so tempting, tantalizing, that the story must be crea-TED!”

Bruce: “Mr. Van Wurl…”

Lucien: “LUCIEN VAN WURL!”

Bruce: “Lucien Van Wurl, you said you were from the Los Angeles area…yet your accent is quite foreign. I can’t quite place it…where did you get your accent from?”

Lucien: “The ori-GIN of my accent is unimportant to you, Mr. Lancas-TER! My past, it is not important either! For today, this very day, is the beginning of the new movement of Lucien Van Wurl. When Lucien Van Wurl is done, he will have pro-VED that he has taken art in a direction so daring that none can be compare-ED to me!”

Bruce: “Well…thank you for your time, Mr. Van Wurl.”

Lucien: “LUCIEN VAN WURL IS MY NAME! Fortunately, Lucien Van Wurl has been given the opportunity to destroy you and another unnam-ED opponent! Soon, Mr. Lancaster, you shall learn why Lucien Van Wurl is a man to be fear-ED!”

Road Agent Notes: Bruce Lancaster debuted his new gimmick (Journalist), it got a positive response. Lucien Van Wurl debuted his new gimmick (Pretentious Artist), it got a positive response. Bruce Lancaster gained overness from this segment. Lucien Van Wurl gained overness from this segment.

RATING: 55

Lucien Van Wurl vs. Bruce Lancaster vs. Greg Pawluk

Lucien Van Wurl immediately attacks Bruce, jumping over the desk to get at him. Bruce, not even having a chance to get his coat and tie off, starts fighting back. The two brawl in the ring as they clear the desk and backdrop out. As Lucien and Bruce fought all over the ring, Greg Pawluk trotted out from the back. He got to the outside of the ring, and looked in. He hesitated for a while, and looked extremely worried until the referee came down to the ring and ordered Pawluk in. Pawluk tried to beg out, saying he didn’t want to interrupt, but the referee forced him in. Once he got into the ring, he went right on the offensive and started SCHOOLING Lucien and Lancaster (not surprising, since he’s fighting an artist and a journalist). After dismantling them, Pawluk went to hit his finisher on Lancaster. He nailed the move (a nice Roll The Dice) on Lancaster, but was immediately shoved out of the ring by Van Wurl, who then covered Lancaster for the 1,2,3 before the surprised Pawluk could work his way back into the ring.

Road Agent Notes: Greg Pawluk debuted his new gimmick (Loner), it got a positive response.

RATINGS:

CROWD: 24

MATCH: 75

OVERALL: 49

Segment 4: Austin Lee Threatens The Rock, Disses HPW

Austin Lee comes walking down the aisle, with a microphone already in hand.

Austin: “Hey, idiots, listen up. I got some things to say, and you AREN’T gonna get another chance to listen.” The crowd immediately boos, which simply plays right to Lee: “Hey, feel free to boo me. I don’t give a crap about you people. I don’t give a crap about each and every HPW fan! And do you know WHY I don’t care about the HPW fans? Because you were stupid enough to come see this damn show!”

The fans boo, but are obviously confused by Lee’s seemingly misplaced rant.

Austin: “What a shock, you people don’t get it. Well, let me spell some things out for you VERY, VERY CLEARLY in this NICE SLOW VOICE!” He slows down even further, which has the crowd extremely mad. “Have you idiots heard of the W-W-E? WWE? Does that ring a bell, retards?” Lee ditches the slow speak, going back to his fairly rapid (and fairly obnoxious) tone of voice. “Well, you see, that’s where I should be! A man of my talents shouldn’t be stuck doing a show in some crappy high school gym in Hollywood! I should be in Madison Square Garden, in the Silverdome, in the Skydome, the Fleetcenter, the big arenas around the country! But for whatever reason, I don’t work for them, and I’m stuck here trying to support myself taking these pathetic bush-league jobs!”

Austin gets booed hard by the fans, but he doesn’t really seem to notice. He’s quite riled up (probably adding a little bit of realism to this one, I guess), and just moves on.

Austin: “Well, guess what? I’m not gonna be an idiot like the Rock! I mean seriously, who gets to the top of the world and then WILLINGLY takes a job in a total SHITHOLE like this? You’d have to be borderline retarded to want to come back to this stage of your career! I guess Rock really isn’t the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, if you get my drift. Anyways, I’m not gonna follow in that idiot’s footsteps. I’m gonna get out of this crappy fed one way or another, and I’m gonna make my way straight to the big bucks of the WWE! So I have to find my way out of here. And I think I know EXACTLY how I’m gonna do it. You idiots will have to figure it out for yourselves, though….I won’t be waiting up.”

With that, Lee throws down his microphone and storms out of the ring, seemingly in a worse mood than when he entered. He gets the most boos of the night so far (repeatedly insulting the audience will do that) as he walks to the back.

Road Agent Notes: Austin Lee debuted his new gimmick (Obnoxious), it got a positive response. Austin Lee gained overness from this segment.

RATING: 65

Segment 5: The Rock Meets Dan Gibraltar

Backstage, the Rock is looking amused as he watches Lee on a small closed-circuit monitor from our one small camera. “That jabroni doesn’t know how good he’s got it…” says the Rock to himself in a small voice before a finger taps him on the shoulder. The Rock turns around and finds a rather tall, large man standing right behind him.

Dan Gibraltar: “Excuse me, Mr. Rock sir…”

Rock: “Who the hell are you? Did you bring the Rock’s Chinese food? Where’s the crab Rangoon?”

Gibraltar: “No, sir. I’m one of your employees, Dan Gibraltar.”

The Rock softens his facial expression a bit, and even shakes the kid’s hand.

Rock: “Well, good to meet you, kid. Dan Gibraltar, huh?”

Gibraltar: “Yes, sir! I’m your biggest fan! I’ve been a huge fan since you were the Blue Chipper, way back! You were always my favorite wrestler, and now I get to work in the same promotion as you…this is like a dream come true!”

Rock: “Well, the Rock is glad to hear that he’s got another good fan.”

Gibraltar: “I never would have gotten into wrestling if it wasn’t for you, Rock! I even named myself after you!”

Rock: (confused) “How the HELL is ‘Dan Gi-whatchamacallit’ a tribute to the Rock? Are you smoking something, kid?”

Gibraltar: “No, no! You see, my name is Dan Gibraltar. When you think of Gibraltar, what do you think of? The ROCK of Gibraltar! So my full wrestling name is Dan ‘Rock of’ Gibraltar!”

The Rock, suddenly very wary of the kid, nods slowly, with a half-smile on his face. Meanwhile, a huge smile is plastered on Dan’s face as he stares right into the face of the Rock, stuck with hero worship.

Rock: “Well, you know what? The Rock really appreciates that. So you know what? The Rock is gonna let you do him a little favor? What do ya think of that, Dan Gibraltar?”

Dan: “Do you mean it? Of course! What is it?”

Rock: “You weren’t the Rock’s Chinese food delivery. So I want you to go find out where the hell the Rock’s Chinese food is. The Rock is hungry, and some of that Moo Goo Gai Pan would really the spot right now. Sound good to you, kid?”

Dan: “Yes sir! I’ll be right back!”

Gibraltar goes sprinting off backstage, pushing a staffer out of the way as he yells out, “WHERE’S THE CHINESE FOOD? I NEED THE ROCK’S CHINESE FOOD!” The Rock just chuckles to himself, then turns back to the closed-circuit monitor, still waiting on the next match.

Road Agent Notes: Dan "Rock Of" Gibralter debuted his new gimmick (Obsessed Fan), it got a positive response. The Rock lost overness from this segment. Dan "Rock Of" Gibralter gained overness from this segment.

RATING: 77

Enygma vs. Chance Beckett

The match starts with Chance Beckett coming out and waiting in the ring for Enygma. Enygma’s music hits, and he comes out, looking VERY VERY happy to be out there. He shakes fans with everyone in the audience, visibly irritating Chance as he waits to get the match started. Suddenly, as Enygma is finishing shaking hands, he looks up, with a fury in his eyes. He roughly yanks his hand out of the crowd and sprints into the ring, pounding away on Beckett. Beckett was caught off-guard, and spends the first half of the match trying to regain some composure as Enygma simply pounds the hell out of him. After a while, the battle becomes pretty neutral, with the two men pounding away on each other. Beckett slams Enygma’s head into the turnbuckle and dumps him over the rope. Enygma gets up, with the giant smile from earlier back on his face, and starts shaking hands with the rest of the crowd. The referee starts counting to 10 as Beckett just looks on in disbelief, having no clue what he just saw. Eventually, the referee counts to 10 and declares the match over. Enygma is jolted back to attention when he hears the ring bell, and starts to go insane as Beckett slips out of the ring quietly, trying not to draw attention. Enygma shoves the ref and throws a mini-tantrum in the middle of the ring as Beckett disappears backstage.

Road Agent Notes: Enygma debuted his new gimmick (Split Personality), it got a neutral response.

RATINGS:

CROWD: 34

MATCH: 72

OVERALL: 53

Brutus Beefcake Takes The Mic

Finally, after Enygma has calmed down and left, Brutus Beefcake hits the ring (with his old skool WWF music playing in the background). The fans give him a small pop as Jack Douglas, the announcer, introduces him, but there are some definite chuckles as the near-senior citizen gets on the microphone.

Brutus: "Hello, HPW! It’s good to be here tonight!"

He gets a small pop in response, which he takes as encouragement, launching into his speech with a new aggressiveness.

Brutus: "I’m glad to see that all the Brutus Beefcake fans have shown up here to cheer me on! Because next, I’ll be competing in the MAIN EVENT for the brand-new HPW World Title!”

This comment gets some groans from the crowd, which causes a small grin to spread over my face. I look across the room to where Rocky is standing, but he doesn’t seem to notice the negative crowd reaction.

Brutus: "And tonight, I’ll be competing against not one, not two, but THREE men! I’ll be taking on the high-flyer Xstasy, the young technical marvel Paul London..." (this gets a pop, as it appears there are more than a few Paul London fans in the crowd…PLEASE, Dwayne, let him win this one), "...and one other man. This man is one of my most dastardly foes, and will surely take all of my power to defeat: Typhoon!"

The crowd tries to boo, but the majority of the crowd is either silent or laughing. Beefcake seems to notice that he’s losing them, and starts to wrap things up before they really go wrong.

Brutus: "But don’t you people worry! Typhoon, Xstasy, and London will have to go through me, Brutus Beefcake himself, in order to win the HPW World Title! And I promise each and every fan in this building that I will be the one to bring the title home, and I’m going to do it for each and every one of YOU!” He points to the crowd for emphasis, which does end up getting a pop. “Now wish me luck, folks! It’s time to become champion!”

God, I hope not…

Road Agent Notes: Brutus Beefcake debuted his new gimmick (Old School Face), it got a positive response.

RATING: 48

Brutus Beefcake vs. Paul London vs. Xstasy vs. Typhoon

With Brutus Beefcake in the ring, the first man to enter is Paul London. Beefcake relaxes in a corner, waiting for the other two men to enter, but London immediately attacks him, bringing the fight early. London pounds away on Beefcake in the corner as Xstasy enters next, with extremely loud music blaring in the background. He jumps onto the ring apron, hops onto the top rope, and takes both London and Brutus down with a flying cross-body block. All three men hop up after the impact and start brawling again as the last man to enter, Typhoon, comes walking down the aisle. Actually, it’s more like waddling down the aisle (GOD, he’s fat!), but eventually Typhoon gets there and gets into the ring. He pulls Xstasy off of London and Beefcake and starts pounding away on him as London and Brutus are still trading punches.

The match goes on as Xstasy gets the upper hand on Typhoon, reversing a powerbomb into a sunset flip for a two count, broken up by a London dropkick. London goes to work on Xstasy while Brutus Beefcake picks up Typhoon and locks on the sleeper hold, which gets a pop from the three people who recognize it as his finisher. London breaks free from Xstasy and dropkicks Beefcake in the back. Beefcake releases the hold on Typhoon, who stumbles forward into Xstasy and is immediately met with a spinning heel kick, which only gets two. Meanwhile, London plants Beefcake with a reverse DDT, which also gets two.

London looks up to see Xstasy hit a HUGE 450 SPLASH off the top onto Typhoon. He gets dragged off after a two count by London, and the two men start brawling. Beefcake once again slips over and covers Typhoon himself for two, but Typhoon manages to get one of his fat shoulders off the canvas in time. Xstasy plants London with a spinebuster off the ropes, then flies off the second turnbuckle, trying for a crossbody on Beefcake, Brutus catches him and delivers a fallaway slam to Xstasy, but immediately walks into a HUGE DDT from Typhoon! Typhoon covers for the 1, 2, 3 for the win just as Xstasy and London both fly in to break up it just a LITTLE too late! Typhoon is the first HPW World Champion!

Road Agent Notes: Typhoon debuted his new gimmick, it got a positive response. The HPW World Heavyweight title has gained in image.

RATINGS:

CROWD: 44

MATCH: 66

OVERALL: 55

"Overall, the show did a 55% rating, which would have been a lot higher if we had put Dwayne's opening interview out as part of the show. Still, we could have been a LOT higher if we had put on a better main event...one WITHOUT Beefcake and Typhoon stinking up the ring!" I said with a sharp edge to my voice. "Dwayne, why did you listen to your father? We could have had a great main event without those two in there!"

Dwayne: "Trust me on this one, Jon. I mean, the crowd rating was definitely the highest for the main event, so not EVERYONE disliked it. And what's the harm in putting the belt on the guy?"

"The harm is that he's old, can't wrestle, and can't talk! I mean, Beefcake became a non-wrestler after the show! Sure, he can still do some events for us, but he and Typhoon are OLD, Dwayne! It's not a good strategy for us to put the belt on someone that old, and to be frank, that BAD!"

Dwayne: "Don't worry, Jon. If Typhoon doesn't work out, we'll move the belt along to someone else. But for now, Typhoon's champ. You and dad need to get together and figure out what's gonna go down at the next show. Lemme know your plans. Now I gotta get to Vancouver. We're on location up there. See you in a month!"

Dwayne went racing off, and I sat back down, stewing over the decision. Some new, cutting-edge fed this was turning out to be.

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OFFICIAL~! Preview for HPW Novacaine

TAG TEAM MATCH

Typhoon and Paul London vs. Brutus Beefcake and Xstasy

- Will Beefcake and Xstasy get revenge on Typhoon for the World Title match last week where Typhoon emerged champion? How will Paul London work with a man whom he too battled against last week? Attend the show and find out!

Austin Lee vs. Feltcher

- Will Austin Lee continue to rail against HPW in his desire to make it to the big leagues? He'll have his first in-ring test in HPW when he takes on the man behind the mask, Feltcher!

Fabulous Frederick vs. GQ

- Last week, Frederick made a thunderous debut when he KO'ed Feltcher! Will he keep the punches flying against GQ, who has declared himself the 'ultimate ladies' man'?

Bruce's Beat feat. Fabulous Frederick

- Bruce's Beat got off to a rousing start last week when he interviewed Lucien Van Wurl! Now, Bruce Lancaster hosts former boxer, the Fabulous Frederick, at the Update Desk! Find out what Frederick has to say on his conversion to professional wrestling!

AND MORE!

Sunday, May 30, 2004

HPW NOVOCAINE!

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HPW NOVOCAINE

Sunday, May 30, 2004

LIVE from Hollywood, California!

The show opens with Austin Lee vs. Feltcher

The show begins with Lee already in the ring, waiting on the arrival of Feltcher. Suddenly, Feltcher leaps out of the crowd behind Lee and tiptoes up behind him. The crowd (121 people, slightly down from last show) still remembers what happened last time, and starts to laugh as Feltcher tiptoes up behind Lee. He taps him on the shoulder, then screams “BOO!” right in his face, which draws a huge laugh from the crowd. Feltcher starts dancing around the ring, delighted with his joke, as Austin Lee is FURIOUS over the debacle. He immediately sprints up and clotheslines Feltcher, knocking him down. Lee spends several minutes pounding away on Feltcher, but Feltcher makes a comeback. He hits a DDT on Lee, then heads to the second rope and nails a kneedrop for the 1, 2, kickout! Feltcher goes for another DDT, but Lee hits a Northern Lights suplex on Feltcher, and bridges for the 1, 2, 3! Austin Lee takes the match!

As Feltcher dances out of the ring, seemingly unbothered by his loss (he takes solace by blowing big kisses to the crowd through his mask), Lee starts yelling at the crowd, not even bothering to grab a microphone.

Lee: “You see this? DID YOU SEE THIS? This is the kind of crap I have to put up with here in the bush leagues! Thanks to the Rock and his goddamn idiocy of hiring RETARDS like that masked freak over there…"

Feltcher looks up from the crowd, mimes a tear, then goes back to blowing kisses to everyone, which just makes Lee even madder

Lee:“THAT FREAK shows what an idiot the Rock is! The man quit his job and started taking a job where he has to babysit freaks like that! And I, someone with a legitimate future, has to fight him! How am I supposed to get recruited when I’m fighting a skeleton blowing kisses and yelling ‘BOO!’? That’s IT! Rock, I know you’re not here tonight with your MOVIES and stuff. But next month, show your ass up and take me on in a match, one on one! I’ll show you the kind of people that you should be LUCKY to have in your federation!”

RATING:

CROWD: 35

MATCH: 68

OVERALL: 51

--------------------------------------

'Bruce's Beat', Featuring the Fabulous Frederick!

The Bruce’s Beat set is brought out again, followed soon after by Bruce Lancaster, being played out again by the KTTV News music. Lancaster takes his seat at the desk, shuffles his papers, and begins to introduce his guest for the evening.

Bruce: “Good evenings, and welcome to another edition of Bruce’s Beat, hosted by me, Bruce Lancaster! Tonight, we have a very special guest. He won his HPW debut last week against Feltcher, but this man has had many other victories in the squared circle before! Before joining the HPW family, he was an excellent heavyweight boxer, compiling a record of 34-5! Please allow me to introduce the Fabulous Frederick!”

With that, Frederick comes bouncing down the aisle, shadowboxing as he goes. As he enters the ring, he pulls his satin robe off and tosses it aside before taking a seat next to the Update News Desk. He gets himself comfortable as Bruce pulls out a small stack of index cards, ready to begin the interview.

Bruce: “Now, Mr. Frederick…”

Frederick: “Just call me Frederick. I’m a low key guy. None of that ‘Mr.’ stuff for me.”

Bruce: “OK, Frederick. Now, the biggest question on my mind is, why did you leave the lucrative world of boxing, where you were obviously a big success, to start all over here in the world of professional wrestling?”

Frederick: “Well Bruce, fighting had me worn out. I was tired of the six-month buildup to fights. I was tired of the whole boxing scene. And most importantly, I felt like I had gone as far as I was gonna go with boxing. But wrestling opened up a whole new world to me. It gave me a new field to improve in, one where I have almost unlimited potential!”

Bruce: “What makes you so confident you’ll be a success here in HPW? There are a lot of excellent competitors here, including yours truly!”

Frederick: “Not to take anything away from you, Bruce, but you have no combat experience whatsoever. You’re just a journalist. But me, on the other hand, I have a LOT of experience in combat. Not only that, but I have experience in an area that NO ONE ELSE in HPW has experience in! No one else here has a clue how to box! That puts me in the driver’s seat, Bruce! They have to adapt to my style, or else they’ll get burned! And you saw what I did against Feltcher last week, Bruce! I gave him the old left-right-uppercut combo, and he was down for the COUNT!”

Bruce: “You make some excellent points, Frederick! But do you think that in the end, you’ll be overmatched by people with years of experience in this business, such as the Rock, or our champion Typhoon, or Paul London?”

Frederick: “I’m in better shape than all of them, Bruce! I’m a training machine! They don’t know what it’s life to get pummeled in a boxing ring! They don’t know what it’s like to train for weeks and weeks and weeks just for one fight! Thanks to boxing, I have the physical edge, and the mental edge! When I get into the ring, no one, and I mean nobody, is gonna be able to touch me!”

Bruce: “Big words from the Fabulous Frederick! Thank you VERY much for your time, Frederick, and good luck in your match against GQ! I hear he can be quite the showstopper!”

Frederick: “The only thing that’s getting stopped tonight is him, Bruce. When he meets the big 1-2-3, he’ll be down for the count!”

Road Agent Notes: Bruce Lancaster gained 3 points of overness from this segment. Fabulous Frederick gained 2 points of overness from this segment.

RATING: 48

----------------------------------------------

Fabulous Frederick vs. GQ

The ring is cleared of the Bruce’s Beat set as Bruce Lancaster exits the ring. Frederick hops around the ring as he weaves around, avoiding imaginary punches as he shadowboxes some more. Finally, GQ comes down the aisle. He’s wearing a leather jacket, a pair of red tights with roses down the side, and a T-shirt that reads “I’m too sexy for this shirt!” He struts down the aisle, talking to a few of the women in attendance before sliding into the ring. He slips the T-shirt off, fulfilling the prophecy (this gets a shriek from a couple of the vocal female fans, as well as one VERY effeminate man in the audience) and squaring up with Frederick. The two face off, with Frederick immediately going for his punches. GQ manages to avoid them for a while, even hitting some big moves in the process. He manages to hit a big spinebuster off the ropes before heading for the top, looking to land what he calls the Ladykiller (a big Swanton bomb), but Frederick hits a HUGE uppercut on GQ as he tries to complete the move. GQ falls flat on his back, totally knocked out from the punch. Frederick gets up instead of pinning him, and watches as the referee counts to 10 before declaring the match over via knockout!

Road Agent Notes: GQ lost 1 point of overness from this match. Fabulous Frederick gained 3 points of overness from this match.

RATING:

CROWD: 31

MATCH: 61

OVERALL: 46

------------------------------------------

Dan Gibraltar Has A Bone To Pick

Dan Gibraltar comes charging out to the ring, with an angry glint in his eye. He seizes the one microphone from ringside, then begins to talk.

Gibraltar: “HELLO, Hollywood!”

He gets a small cheer from the skeptical crowd, which was smaller than what he had anticipated.

Gibraltar: “Now people, I’m out here tonight for a very, very specific reason. You see, there’s someone backstage who I’m not a particularly big fan of. Austin Lee, you feel the need to run your mouth every time you come out here about how much you deserve, and how much the Rock sucks! Well, guess what? The Rock DOES NOT SUCK! The Rock is the best man ever to set foot inside a wrestling ring in the HISTORY of this business, and for you to come out here and insult the decisions that man has made…it makes me sick to my stomach to hear it!”

The crowd has come around a bit, and Dan starts to get a little more confident on the mic as he continues his diatribe against Austin Lee.

Gibraltar: “Well, Lee, you know what? You’re right! The Rock ISN’T here tonight! But you know who IS here? The Rock…of GIBRALTAR!”

This gets a surprisingly good pop from the crowd, and the smile on Dan Gibraltar’s face is obviously genuine as he readies himself once again.

Gibraltar: “So Austin Lee, if you have the guts, I want to give you a little preview of what the Rock is going to do to you! If you’re man enough, me and you will fight….TONIGHT!”

Before the crowd can even react, Austin Lee comes out and starts to talk (once again, without the benefit of a microphone.

Lee: “YOU’RE the one upholding the honor of the Rock? YOU? Jesus Christ, this place has more wackos than I thought! But fine! You’re on! I’ve wrestled one wacko already tonight, and I won that match! The more the merrier! You can get into the ring with me, but all you’ll be SMELLLLLLLLLLLLLLALALALAing is the canvas when I’m done with you, asshole!”

Gibraltar: “You’re on, punk! But you can’t compete against me when I have the PEOPLE on my side!”

The people start to cheer for Dan, with a small “GI-BRAL-TAR! GI-BRAL-TAR!” chant starting up as Lee turns in disgust and walks to the back, once again muttering about all the wackos on the HPW roster.

Road Agent Notes: Austin Lee gained 1 point of overness from this segment. Dan "Rock Of" Gibralter gained 3 points of overness from this segment.

RATING: 53

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Typhoon and Paul London vs. Brutus Beefcake and Xstasy

London and Xstasy start the match off for their teams, with London going right on the attack. He bludgeons away at Xstasy before hitting a big enziguri. He hits a missile dropkick off the top, then rolls over to his corner and tags in Typhoon, the HPW World Champion. Typhoon waddles over to Xstasy and immediately locks on a bearhug, crushing the high flyer in his grip. The hold lasts for a solid three minutes, which really kills the crowd as Xstasy struggles to escape. Finally, he bashes his way out with an elbow, hits a big kick to the side of the knee, then dives and hits a flying shoulder block on Typhoon. He rolls over to his corner and tags in Brutus Beefcake to a decidedly negative reaction. Beefcake and Typhoon start trading punches before Beefcake whips Typhoon into the corner and hits a series of punches on him. Beefcake tries to ram Typhoon’s head into the turnbuckle, but Typhoon reverses it before tagging in Paul London.

London launches himself over the top rope and hits a tornado DDT, which only gets a two count. London bounces off the ropes, trying for a clothesline, but Beefcake catches him with a DDT that plants London. He covers for the 1, 2, not quite as Typhoon breaks it up with a boot to Beefcake’s back. Beefcake yells at Typhoon, then tags in Xstasy. Xstasy gets to work on London before tossing him into the corner. Xstasy places London in a sitting position on the top rope and goes for a Frankensteiner, but London catches him and his a HUGE sitout powerbomb off the top rope, which gets a small “HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT!” chant from the crowd. London holds on for the pin, and the 1, 2, NO! as Beefcake breaks it up. London jumps up and goes over Beefcake in the corner, with Typhoon sneaking into the ring and punching away at Xstasy. The ref finally restores order, and London tags in Typhoon.

Typhoon goes after Xstasy and throws him into the corner before starting to choke him with his boot. The ref goes for the five count, and Typhoon stops JUST in the nick of time. He keeps Xstasy grounded, slamming away at the high-flying superstar, until Xstasy manages to block a punch and nail an armdrag on Typhoon. He kips up and nails Typhoon with a dropkick before reaching over and tagging in Brutus Beefcake! London charges the ring, drawing the ref’s attention, giving Typhoon the opportunity to nail the fresh Beefcake with a HUGE low blow! London immediately runs over and drags Xstasy off the apron as Typhoon rolls Beefcake up for the pinfall. The ref, noticing what’s happening, drops back into position and gets the 1, 2, 3! for the pinfall! As Typhoon grabs his belt and waddles off smiling, Beefcake can be seen in the ring, looking extremely upset.

Road Agent Notes: Brutus Beefcake didn't really sell very much, which hurt the match rating.

RATING:

CROWD: 47

MATCH: 54

OVERALL: 50

----------------------------------------------

Brutus Beefcake Has A Challenge

Typhoon can’t escape to the back, however, before Brutus Beefcake gets his hands on the microphone.

Brutus: “TYPHOON! Don’t you think of going ANYWHERE!”

The command stops Typhoon in his tracks (although, to be honest, he looks thankful for the opportunity to have a breather), and the champion listens to Brutus Beefcake in the ring.

Brutus: “That title should have been MINE last month at Kick Start! And now here you go, cheating to win here! I want my shot at the belt! So unless you’re too afraid of me, then you’ll take me on at next month’s event, HPW Higher Ground, for the HPW World Title! What do you say, Typhoon? You and me, one on one!”

The crowd seems less than thrilled with the prospect of a Brutus Beefcake vs, Typhoon match main eventing the next show, but Typhoon doesn’t react at all to the small chorus of boos from the crowd. He points to Beefcake, then yells, “YOU’RE ON!” at him, which gets a small pop to counteract the boos of the crowd. Jack Douglas, the announcer, starts hyping the World Title match for next month at HPW Higher Ground on June 19th.

RATING: 41

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Lucien Van Wurl Talks

As the chaos at ringside finally settles down, Lucien Van Wurl comes striding out through the entranceway with his own microphone in hand. However, his microphone is obviously one he owns personally, as it’s shaped like a paintbrush, with a tip of blue at the top. The crowd is silent as Van Wurl enters, still unsure of what to think about Lucien Van Wurl.

Lucien: “People have as-KED me over the last few weeks, ‘Why did you do it, Lucien Van Wurl? Why have you left the world of avant-garde art, where you are so rever-ED, to become a greasy wrestler? Why have you so sulli-ED such a beautiful canvas of work? Why?”

Lucien: “Well, people do not understand this quite yet: To truly be seen as an immortal ar-TIST, you must take chances! You must go beyond the boundaries that anyone has dar-ED to step past! And professional wrestling…it is an untouch-ED piece of art, a place where stories that humanity has never dar-ED to utter may spring forth and unfold themselves in the presence of those who have never comprehen-DED what art truly is!”

The crowd, just now starting to pick up on the fact that Lucien looks down on them, is starting to boo. The boos seem to bring a small smirk to Van Wurl’s face, and he pauses for a second to allow the boos to completely die out before continuing onwards.

Lucien: “This, however, was what I expec-TED to be met with! For those who cannot understand are most likely to reject anything which they consider to be too ‘cultu-RED” for them! But you people, you shall be the blank canvas for my masterpiece! When I have finish-ED with what has already commenc-ED, then you shall realize my true brilliance, the brilliance which only I am aware of right now! For together, we are intertwin-ED, with our futures and fates so closely link-ED that it is seemingly destiny for us to have arriv-ED together here in Hollywood Pro Wrestling! For when I am done…Lucien Van Wurl is a name that shall never be forgotten.”

Road Agent Notes: Lucien Van Wurl gained 3 points of overness from this segment.

RATING: 61

---------------------------------------------------

Austin Lee vs. Dan Gibraltar

Dan Gibraltar is the first to enter, with a mask of extreme seriousness on his face. He gets good applause as he celebrates before the match, climbing the turnbuckle and posing in the exact same manner that the Rock does. Austin Lee comes out next, looking slightly tired but ready to fight once again. Lee and Gibraltar lock up to start, and Gibraltar overpowers him. Lee rolls up and watches as “The Rock of Gibraltar” poses before taking Dan down with a shoulder block. The two men roll around on the ground, throwing punches, before Lee gets the upper hand and locks on a headlock. He brings it to a stand, then gets pushed off by Gibraltar. Lee bounces off the ropes and springs forward, hitting a flying forearm and covering for a 1, 2, kickout by Gibraltar.

Lee continues to push hard, locking a rear sleeper on Gibraltar to keep from expending too much energy. Lee, however, is soon overpowered by Gibraltar, who pulls Lee over his shoulder and slams him to the ground in front of him. He scoops Lee up and hits him with a big sit-out powerbomb that has Lee knocked silly. Instead of covering, Gibraltar gets to his feet, signals for the People’s Elbow, then starts to sprint across the ring. Gibraltar drops the elbow….right onto empty canvas, as Lee has rolled out of the way. Lee sprints across the ring and hits a picture-perfect dropkick, sending Gibraltar into the corner. Lee charges Gibraltar, who ducks underneath Lee and tosses him up onto the top rope. Lee keeps his balance however, and hits a corkscrew plancha onto Gibraltar for a 1, 2, KICKOUT JUST IN TIME as Dan JUST got a shoulder up.

Lee, obviously frustrated and quickly tiring, goes for another sleeper, but Gibraltar elbows out of it quickly and goes for a DDT. Lee tries to reverse it into another Northern Lights suplex, as he did against Feltcher earlier, but Gibraltar is too strong and blocks the suplex. Instead, he lifts Lee up and hits a big stalling vertical suplex. Lee gets up quickly, but runs right into a Samoan drop from Gibraltar. Lee staggers to his feet, and Gibraltar calls for the Rock Bottom, which draws a big cheer from the fans. He grabs Lee and lifts him up, but Lee reverses it into a HUGE, HUGE DDT that plants Gibraltar. Lee covers Gibraltar and gets his feet up on the ropes as the referee counts for the 1, 2, 3 that wins the match for Austin Lee! The crowd is angry, booing Lee as he leaves the ring, yelling “2-0! 2-0! Check THAT out!” to the crowd and Gibraltar as he disappears behind the curtains, ending the show.

RATING:

CROWD: 36

MATCH: 74

OVERALL: 55

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OVERALL RATING: 51% (no Rock = bad, apparently)

ATTENDANCE: HPW Novocaine was attended by 123 people!

We made $2460 from ticket sales.

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Posted: June 16, 2004

OFFICIAL~! Preview for HPW Higher Ground

HPW WORLD TITLE MATCH

Typhoon © vs. Brutus Beefcake

- This matchup has been brewing for decades between the two men, but this time, the HPW World Title is on the line! Will Brutus Beefcake finally get some revenge against Typhoon, or will Typhoon move to a perfect 3-0 against Brutus Beefcake? Find out as the HPW World Title is up for grabs!

BRUCE'S BEAT

This Month's Guest: Brutus Beefcake!

- Before the HPW World Title match, Bruce's Beat will host challenger Brutus Beefcake! The challenger is expected to talk to about his long career, and where this moment ranks with his greatest! Be sure to catch the entire story on Bruce's Beat!

HPW WORLD TITLE #1 CONTENDER'S MATCH

Paul London vs. Xstasy

- These two men have been upstaged on the last two shows by Typhoon and Brutus Beefcake, but at HPW Higher Ground, London and Xstasy will go toe-to-toe to determine the next man to get a shot at the HPW World Title! Both men are superb wrestlers, and this one promises to be an incredible match! Don't miss this high-flying match for the #1 Contendership!

SINGLES MATCH

Fabulous Frederick vs. Feltcher

- This is a rematch of the very first match in HPW history, as Feltcher looks to prove his worth in a matchup against the Fabulous Frederick! Will Frederick continue his impressive work so far and leave another man KO'ed on the mat, or will Feltcher find the key to victory?

A VICTORY CELEBRATION

Austin Lee Celebrates His 2-0 Performance @ HPW Novocaine!

- At HPW Novociaine last month, Austin Lee put on quite the performance, as he took down both Feltcher AND Dan "The Rock of" Gibraltar in the same night! Higher Ground will kick off with Austin Lee celebrating his night of victory, and setting the course for his future actions in HPW! What exactly will Lee have to say?

AND MORE!

Saturday, June 19, 2004!

Hollywood, California!

HPW HIGHER GROUND!

Edited by rockyoursox
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SATURDAY, JUNE 12, 2004

HOLLYWOOD,CALIFORNIA

Rocky and I sat across from each other at a table, our faces both flushed. We’d been arguing over the course of an hour, with very little progress being made. Tim was trying to appear absorbed in some documents, but he was just listening in on our conversation, grinning slightly as we yelled at each other.

Me: “Rocky, I’m TELLING YOU that Brutus Beefcake vs. Typhoon is a guaranteed flop! I mean, did you see the segments from Novocaine they did? Beefcake’s interview was the worst segment of the night, and the matchwork in the tag match was the worst of the night as well! That match included the two best workers on our roster, London and Xstasy!”

Rocky: “You can’t expect it to work right away, Jon! The crowd needs to get involved with them!”

Me: “How is that gonna happen, Rocky? Neither of them can speak or wrestle! It’s hard to get ‘involved’ in a character when there’s no way to connect with them!”

Rocky: “Trust me on this! I guarantee you this is gonna work!”

Me: “No, it won’t! Rocky, this idea might sink this fed! We have to act fast if we’re gonna save things around here!”

Tim: Hey, guys..

Rocky: THAT’S IT! I’m out of here! Book this yourself, Jon! We’ll see what kind of crap you throw out there!”

With that, Rocky got up and stormed out of the room. Tim and I watched the door slam shut, and we both let out a sigh of relief as we turned to face each other.

Me: “So, Tim, what were you gonna say?”

Tim: “What? Oh, right. Well, this is the deal. I wanted to let you guys know that you actually turned a profit in May, making $26,460. I figured we’d up the advertising levels a bit, and hopefully we’ll bring in enough people to make up for the increase.”

Me: “Excellent, excellent. Now, another question: We lost Greg Pawluk this month when he was stolen by 3PW. Is it possible for us to work out written deals with a few other guys on our roster so we don’t lose everyone at once? We need to be able to build up a bit.”

Tim: “Well, based on what I’ve heard, everyone besides London, Xstasy, Beefcake, and Typhoon should be receptive to signing written deals, assuming that we’re willing to give them 1-year deals that pay enough to cover the rest of the money they could make off indy bookings.”

Me: “OK, that works for me. I’d like to get a few of them signed up, so I have your approval to do that, right?”

Tim: “It might cost us a bit more, but it’s a good hedge against future earnings loss, so I figure we can go for it. But only sign the ones you’re interested in having on every single show. You’re paying them whether they work or not, so make sure that you’ve got a use for all of these guys when you sign them up.”

Me: “Excellent, Tim. Now, since Rocky’s out of here, I got a show to book. Anything else I should know before I get working on that?”

Tim: “Well, there is one thing…”

Tim slipped a piece of paper across the table to me. I read the fax, then grinned a little bit. This was gonna make my job much easier for this show. Now I’ll show Rocky how to run this place.

---------------------------------------------------

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 2004

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA

I was sitting at my desk, smiling at the finished card for Higher Ground. I was finally content with what I had worked out. This card was gonna be STACKED, with a surprising amount of what Rocky had suggested making the cut. The pre-made Beefcake/Typhoon match was going on, but I had a good main event all planned out that was sure to take care of any problems that were gonna linger from that sure-to-be abortion of a match. Plus, London and Xstasy were gonna go all-out in what I guessed was gonna be the only chance they got to go one-on-one, since the bigger feds were starting to circle around us like vultures. Add in a few other things, and this show looked good. The announced card was already circulating on the internet and on bulletin boards, so we were hoping for a good turnout at this show.

With Rocky disappearing for a week, a lot had gotten done. Although I couldn’t ink Xstasy or London to a written deal, which wasn’t all that surprising, I had managed to sign up a good deal of our talent to one-year deals. The people we had signed were:

- Austin Lee

- Dan “Rock Of” Gibraltar

- Fabulous Frederick

- Feltcher

- Lucien Van Wurl

It was an increase in costs, to be sure. However, it was definitely a necessary thing to do, since we didn’t want our entire roster picked clean. These guys were sure to stay on our roster for a long period of time now, and hopefully they’d be enough to build around.

As I prepared to close up the office, I heard a knock on the door. I looked up and saw Bruce Lancaster standing there, with a sheepish grin on his face

Bruce: “Hey, Jon, can I talk with you a bit?”

Me: “Sure thing, Bruce. Have a seat.”

Bruce got comfortable in the chair as I sat back down as well.

Me: “So, what’s happening, Bruce? Your reporting for KTTV working out well?” I reminded myself that we had bet on Lancaster only making it three shows…maybe he’s going out earlier than expected.

Bruce: “Well, no, not exactly. You see…I quit KTTV today.”

Me: “WHAT? You quit your job over at KTTV? Why?”

Bruce: “I fell in love with the business, Jon! Wrestling is a much better deal than television ever was! You can actually have fun with yourself out here! You can really break new ground, and that’s what I’ve always wanted to do! Basically, I want to stay in this business! So I was hoping…if it was cool with you, you know…would you be interested in signing a written deal with me? I wanna be here full-time, and since you were the ones who brought me into the wrestling world, I really feel like HPW is my home. I know you’ll take care of me, and I wanna stay here. So, can I sign with you?”

Me: “Well, of course you can, Bruce! You’ll still do Bruce’s Beat, right?”

Bruce: “Oh, of course! I love doing that segment! It’s a great way to get on the show and work my way into the flow. Still, there is one thing…”

Me: “What is it, Bruce?”

Bruce: “Well, I didn’t get to wrestle last show. I know I’m not very good yet, and I need a lot of practice, but can I get a match for the next show? I really do need the practice.”

Me: “Well, the card for Higher Ground is drawn up already…” I stopped, noticing the look on Bruce’s face. “…BUT I think I can squeeze you in there as a dark match to get the crowd pumped up! How’s that sound? We’ll wrestle you in a couple of those, and then you’ll be ready to get into the ring for real!”

Bruce: “Great, that works great! That’s…that’s great, Jon! Thank you so much! I promise you won’t have made a mistake with this one!”

I yanked out another contract and filled in the relevant details quickly, glad that I had picked up one extra at the Kinko’s yesterday. Bruce looked it over briefly, grinned, and signed his name to the contract.

Bruce: “That’s incredible...I’m a professional wrestler now…thank you, Jon.”

Me: “No problem, Bruce. I’ll see you Saturday, OK?”

Bruce: “No problem! I’ll see you then!” With that, Bruce got up with his copy of the contract and walked out of the room, whistling a happy tune to himself. I smiled as I filed his contract away with the rest of them, glad to add another worker to the HPW fold for the next year. Now once we get rid of Beefcake and Typhoon (and Rocky, I thought wistfully), this promotion would be ready to take off.

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Guest reversefigure4

Gold. This has all the makings of a great diary, and one of my favourite elements - interesting characters galore! Dan Gilbralter has some great potential, I like Fabulous Fredrick's whole explanation as to how he's going to win everything (plus I used to be a big Marc Mero mark, so I've had a thing for boxing wrestlers ever since). Lucien Van Wurl is my personal favourite - in between all this avant-garde tripe and demanding his name be pronounced correctly, I see big things in the artist's future.

Austin Lee I'm iffy on. On one hand, it's an easy way to get heat. On the other, if he claims the fed is a shithole, everyone on the roster sucks, then proceeds to beat them all and prove himself right... isn't he just saying to the fans "HPW sucks, go watch WWE instead?"

And then there's Typhoon and Beefcake. The clash of styles between them and the rest of the roster is interesting... and I wonder if The Rock's realised the irony of trying to prove he's better than Vince McMahon by using the guys that Vince made stars of?

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I like what you have done so far. The charecters are interesting, especially Dan Gilbralter. I can't wait for Typhoon vs. Brutus Beefcake, should be a five star classic.

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HPW HIGHER GROUND

Saturday, June 19, 2004

LIVE from Hollywood, California!

DARK MATCH:

Bruce Lancaster vs. Feltcher

Bruce came out real fired up for this one, and went straight to work on Feltcher, who didn’t even have a chance to pull his normal tricks on Lancaster. Bruce went at Feltcher with a number of basic maneuvers, working on the arm of Feltcher with a series of armbreakers, hammerlocks, and armbars to weaken Feltcher’s right arm. It was actually good psychology, and it was far superior than anything Typhoon or Beefcake had managed to show off in their time in the ring so far. Feltcher kept trying to make comebacks, but Lancaster would always manage to get him back down on the mat. I was gonna stop the match after 10 or so minutes, but I let the referee know that Lancaster could have an extra five minutes or so out there. Eventually, after Feltcher had made a comeback, he went for his normal scare tactics on Lancaster. As he went to tap Lancaster on the shoulder, Lancaster grabbed his arm, pulled hard, and Feltcher went leaping back in pain. Lancaster took advantage and hit a piledriver for the win, which got a decent pop from the crowd. Maybe Bruce COULD work out in the ring after all…

RATING:

CROWD: 24

MATCH: 66

OVERALL: 45

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Austin Lee Has A Celebration

The show officially opens with a few balloons tied to the ringposts, with a big banner that says “CONGRATULATIONS AUSTIN” draped over one side of the ring. Austin Lee’s music hits, and he comes striding cockily down to the ring with a shit-eating grin plastered all over his face. He slides into the ring, then reaches into his pocket. His hand re-emerges, filled with confetti, and he starts tossing it up into the air and basking in the slow descent of the confetti. The crowd has a field day with this, booing the hell out of Lee, who seems even happier as the boos get louder. Eventually, his music dies out, and Lee takes a break from sprinkling the confetti over himself to start speaking to the crowd (once again, sans microphone. I guess that’s his thing now…)

Lee: “All I have to say is this, maggots: 2-0!”

The crowd immediately begins booing again, with Lee’s smile becoming ever-bigger. Eventually, the crowd boos itself out and Lee starts to talk again.

Lee: “I know, I know. You people thought that the two prides of HPW, Feltcher and Dan Gibraltar, were gonna take me down tonight! Well, they DIDN’T! Despite the fact that I had to wrestle two matches in one night, I beat both of them cleanly in the middle of the ring, 1-2-3! Neither of them could hold a candle to me, just as no one else in this horrible, pest-ridden promotion can! I’m the reason to even bother watching this bunch of losers, and even then…wait, hold on one second, would ya?”

Lee reaches back into his pocket and starts sprinkling confetti over his head again, which really gets the crowd incensed. Lee dances around underneath the confetti for a bit, then shakes bits of confetti out of his hair and resumes his diatribe against HPW.

Lee: “You see, once again, I have proven that the wrestlers of this company, other than mee, are nothing to be proud of! You get nothing but a bunch of wannabe wrestlers with no talent who have to resort to ANYTHING to get noticed by the big promotions! I mean, a guy who’s stalking the Rock and a guy in a SKELETON MASK were supposed to be competition for me? I swear, this place…”

“SHUT THE HELL UP!”

The crowd, as well as Austin Lee, is silenced for a moment as they whirl around to the entranceway, where Dan Gibraltar is standing with a microphone. The crowd cheers as they recognize him, which seems to really anger Lee.

Lee: “What the hell are you doing out here, you little freak? This is MY time to talk about MY victories at Novocaine, which includes a win over YOU!”

Gibraltar: “Lee, stop running your damn lies all over the place! Last I checked, you had to CHEAT to beat me in that match last week! You clearly had your foot on the ropes, and that’s how you pinned me! How can you go around talking about how we’re a bunch of jabronis who don’t have any talent, and yet you were so afraid of me, you needed to CHEAT to win!?!”

Lee: “That’s funny you say that I cheated, Mr. I Wanna Be The Rock. Why don’t you show us all the video of you losing by ‘cheating’?”

Gibraltar: “Well, ummm….we can’t show videos to the crowd. We don’t have that technology. Maybe we could have them file backstage and show it to them on a VCR…”

Lee: “Shut up, Gibraltar! Although you make one good point: We don’t have that technology because this a total bush-league production, and you’re just a bush-league guy, Gibraltar! You don’t deserve a federation this good to wrestle in, and when you consider how awful this place is to begin with, that’s saying something!”

Gibraltar: “You know what, I’ve had enough of your crap, Lee!” This gets a big pop from the crowd, and Lee just stands there, mocking Gibraltar with his body language.

Lee: “What are you gonna do about it? How are you gonna make me pay?”

Gibraltar: “I want a rematch! TONIGHT! Me and you, Lee! I’ll show you how this is really done!”

The crowd gives a big pop for this, but Lee shakes his head from side to side, with a condescending tone entering his voice.

Lee: “Well Dan, I’d love to, but you see, you couldn’t beat me the first time. I have no reason to grant you another shot at me. You just aren’t worthy of my time when I could be looking on to bigger and better things in the hopes of getting the hell out of here!”

The crowd boos doubly hard, upset at the challenge being denied and Lee’s insult to HPW. However, Gibraltar shoots right back with another proposal.

Gibraltar: “Fine then! How about me and you have ourselves a little tag match then? I’m sure that despite the asshole that you are, you have a friend back there somewhere. Why don’t you find him, and the two of you can team up against the two people who you fought last week! Me and Feltcher versus you and some partner! How about that, Lee?”

Lee stands there for a second, rubbing his chin as he thinks about it for a minute. Finally, he nods his head quickly, and looks up at Gibraltar.

Lee: “You know what, kid? You’re on! I’ll see you and skeleton boy later on tonight! Now get the hell out of here!”

Gibraltar, happy that he got what he came for, gets a pop from the fans before heading to the back, probably in search of Feltcher. Meanwhile, Lee sprinkles the rest of his confetti over the ring, then unties the balloons and walks to the back with them, looking ready for the match later on that night.

Road Agent Notes: Austin Lee gained 2 points of overness from this segment. Dan "Rock Of" Gibralter gained 2 points of overness from this segment.

RATING: 55

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Feltcher vs. Fabulous Frederick

Frederick enters first, still wearing his satin robe. As he shadowboxes down the aisle, Feltcher comes sneaking out with Frederick’s music still playing extremely loudly. Due to the music, Frederick can’t hear the crowd reacting to Feltcher’s stalking of Frederick, nor the footsteps behind him. As Frederick starts to climb up the ringsteps, Feltcher reaches out with his foot and steps on the back of Frederick’s robe, stopping Frederick in his footsteps. He turns around angrily, only to be met by Feltcher yelling “BOO!” at the top of his lungs before collapsing in laughter. Frederick quickly sheds the robe, grabs Feltcher by the back of the head, and rolls him into the ring, throwing left jabs all the while. Feltcher tries to block the punches, still laughing a bit, but Frederick simply overpowers him. Feltcher gets backed into a corner as Frederick starts to go to town on him, throwing punches everywhere. Finally, Feltcher staggers out of the corner, only to be met with the big LEFT-RIGHT-UPPERCUT combo! Feltcher collapses, and the referee starts the 10 count. However, as the referee hits 9, Frederick reaches down off the mat and yanks Feltcher to his feet, drawing a surprised round of boos from the crowd. Frederick backs him against the ropes, then hits the big LEFT-RIGHT-UPPERCUT combo again, which collapses Feltcher again. This time, Frederick lets him stay down for the 10 count, getting the win, but Feltcher isn’t moving after the match ends. Our medic comes out to check on him, and eventually has Feltcher stretchered out, prompting Jack Douglas at the announce position to wonder about what will become of the big tag-team matchup later tonight.

RATING:

CROWD: 29

MATCH: 66

OVERALL: 47

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Another Edition Of Bruce's Beat!

Bruce Lancaster is already set up in the middle of the ring, with the Update News Desk set up in the middle of the ring. However, the KTTV music is no longer playing in the background, as it’s been replaced by new music. The KTTV logo is also gone from the front of the desk, now replaced with a big KBRC logo on the front. Bruce has a microphone in hand, and starts to address the crowd as the music dies out.

Bruce: “Hello, I’m Bruce Lancaster, and welcome to another edition of Bruce’s Beat! Before we begin tonight, I’d like to inform you all of some changes in our upcoming programming schedule. You see, I have recently left KTTV in order to concentrate my full-time efforts here in Hollywood Pro Wrestling! So now, each and every show, you’ll be tuning in here to Bruce’s Beat on the NEWEST network in the Los Angeles area: KBRC! All Bruce, all the time!”

The crowd isn’t quite sure how to respond to this, but he gets a smattering of applause from the crowd before he begins the lead-in to the meat of the segment.

Bruce: “But although this segment is called BRUCE’S Beat, you didn’t come here to listen to me talk about myself! You came here to see me ask the hard questions to the other HPW superstars! And today, Bruce’s Beat has a huge guest! We’re very proud to welcome the man who later on tonight will take on Typhoon for the HPW World Title! Please give a warm welcome to Mr. Brutus Beefcake!”

Brutus Beefcake comes walking down the aisle, high-fiving a few of the fans on the way down. However, the crowd is lukewarm to this as well, and the cheers for Beefcake don’t really materialize as he makes his way into the ring. He waves to the crowd, which gets another small pop, but Beefcake sits down at the Update News Desk with a small tinge of disappointment on his face as Bruce Lancaster readies his index cards for the interview.

Bruce: “Now, Mr. Beefcake. You’ve gotten off to a rough start here at HPW, with your record standing at 0-2! However, tonight, you have a shot at redemption when you take on Typhoon in a World Title match! How do you feel going into tonight’s match?”

Beefcake: “I’m as ready as I’m ever gonna be, Bruce! You see, Typhoon doesn’t deserve to be the champion here at HPW!” (The reaction this statement gets, I note, is the loudest the crowd has gotten during this segment.) “He cheated in his tag match against me last time at Novocaine, and proved that he doesn’t have what it takes to be champion!”

Bruce: “But Mr. Beefcake, based on your 0-2 record, many people in the industry are claiming that you are also unworthy of holding the belt. How do you respond to criticisms by people such as Austin Lee who claim that they, not you, should be getting their chance at becoming HPW World Champion?”

Beefcake: “Well, Bruce, I respect each and every member of this roster…except for Typhoon, of course. I have no problem with people earning their way to the top, but when you look at the win Typhoon picked up against me, it came under very dubious circumstances! I feel that when I’m given a legitimate shot at winning this belt, and if Typhoon is forced to follow the rules, then we shall truly see who is worthy of being crowned HPW Champion!”

Bruce: “On another note, Mr. Beefcake, it’s clear that you’re a good deal older than most people in this company. Why are you still wrestling at this stage in your career, and what has allowed you to stay on top even at your old age?”

Beefcake: “Bruce, I’ve trained hard my entire career, and over my 20 years in this business, I’ve learned enough to keep myself on top. You don’t have to worry about any kind of drop-off in production from me! Just because I’m not a spring chicken doesn’t mean that I don’t have one more big win left in this body of mine! And tonight, when I get into that ring with Typhoon, I’m sure that all the fans will be behind me, ready to see Typhoon knocked off his perch once and for all!” The crowd tries to sound enthusiastic for this, but fails miserably and sounds depressed.

Bruce: “Mr. Beefcake, I wish you the best of luck in your endeavor here tonight. Good luck, and may you be victorious tonight in your title match.”

Beefcake: “Thanks a lot, Bruce. But I don’t need luck for this one! With the power of the fans behind me, and my righteousness going up against Typhoon’s cheating ways, this match is as good as mine!”

Road Agent Notes: Brutus Beefcake gained 3 points of overness from this segment. Bruce Lancaster gained 2 points of overness from this segment.

RATING: 55

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Paul London vs. Xstasy

#1 Contendership To The HPW World Title

With the crowd a little drowsy after the Beefcake segment, and with another Beefcake/Typhoon segment following this one, I figured that this would be the perfect time to throw in the long-awaited singles match (at least in my mind) between Xstasy and Paul London. These were the two best workers we had, and I was looking forward to seeing what they could do. Xstasy comes down to a decent pop and celebrated on the turnbuckle, posing for the crowd. As he celebrates, Paul London comes walking out from the back with a determined look in his eye. The crowd starts to boo as London reaches up to the turnbuckle from the outside and yanks on Xstasy’s foot, sending him tumbling down off the turnbuckle and to the canvas. London slides into the ring, and this match is ready to get underway.

London and Xstasy both lock up, but Xstasy wins it and sends London flying backwards. London, surprised, charges and takes Xstasy down with a shoulder block. The two trade moves on the mat before London wins out with a sleeper hold locked tightly in. Xstasy counters with a kick to the knee, followed by a jawbreaker to London. Xstasy goes for a standing moonsault, but London slides out of the way and rolls Xstasy up for the 1, 2, not quite as Xstasy kicks out. London stays on the offensive, backing Xstasy into the turnbuckle and hitting shoulder thrusts before planting him with a SWEET running dropkick. Xstasy falls to the mat, and London his a tope into the ring before covering for another two count. London goes to the apron once again and goes for a springboard rana, but Xstasy catches him and delivers a SWEET sitout powerbomb in one fluid motion! The crowd is alive and well once again as Xstasy covers for a 1, 2, 3-NO! as London kicks out at the last possible second!

London is groggy, and Xstasy decides to go for it all right then. He hits a quick snap suplex, setting London up, then heads to the top. He goes off the top with a big 450 Splash, which he calls the Soargasm, but London JUST gets out of the way, and Xstasy crashes into a heap on the canvas. London covers, but only gets two on the count. London hits a fisherman’s buster, which he bridges for another two count, then takes Xstasy down to the canvas with an armbar. He turns the armbar into a modified Crossface, but Xstasy manages to grab the ropes for two. London hits a running forearm, then hits Xstasy with several knees to the face when X is on the ground. He covers, but only gets 2 to nobody’s surprise. London tries to pick Xstasy up, but he gets a surprise reverse cradle for the 1, 2, NO! as London, more surprised than anyone else, manages to kick out JUST in the nick of time!

London is the first one up, still in better shape, and goes for another suplex, which Xstasy reverses. He grabs London’s head and pulls it back, hitting an Edgecution on London. He thinks about going up top, and starts to climb the turnbuckle, but London is back up quickly and crotches Xstasy on the ropes, stopping his momentum before he could get started. London climbs up onto the turnbuckle and hooks Xstasy, going for the big superplex to set up the London Calling. However, London gets hit by Xstasy once, twice, and the third time sends London falling back to earth. Before London has a chance to recover, Xstasy gets back to his feet and sends himself up off the top rope once again with the Soargasm! However, this time Xstasy connects, and covers Paul London for the 1, 2, 3 as the crowd explodes for the victory! Xstasy and Paul London have just put on the Match of the Year in HPW, and Xstasy is the new #1 Contender for the HPW World Title!

RATING:

CROWD: 51

MATCH: 92(!!!)

OVERALL: 71

-------------------------------------------------------

Xstasy Speaks After His Victory

As the crowd is still live after the match, Xstasy grabs the microphone from Jack Douglas at ringside and decides to address all 139 (a nice step up, I must say) of the HPW fans in attendance that night.

Xstasy: “I am the new #1 Contender!”

That’s as far as he can get before an “X! X! X! X!” chant starts up, which Xstasy graciously allows to die out before he continues on.

Xstasy: “Tonight was a hard-fought battle! Paul London gave that match everything he had, and I appreciate him going all-out like that! But tonight, Paul London was not at his best! Tonight, Paul London could not match up to the X-citement and X-troadinary ability that I bring to the ring each and every night!” The crowd is eating this up after that last match, and X is more than happy to continue stringing them along.

Xstasy: “But this is only half the battle! Somehow, at Kick Start, Typhoon managed to pin me! If he is triumphant tonight, then I shall gladly get my retribution against him! And if Brutus Beefcake defeats Typhoon tonight, then he too shall fall before me! Because the X-act truth is that neither of these men can withstand the….JOY OF X!”

With that, Xstasy throws down his microphone, poses one more time, then exits the ring as the fans cheer him on, eager to see him get his shot at the HPW World Title at July’s big event, HPW Seek and Destroy.

Road Agent Notes: Xstasy gained 2 points of overness from this segment.

RATING: 76

------------------------------------------------------

Typhoon vs. Brutus Beefcake

HPW World Title Match

Brutus Beefcake is the first man out, getting a good round of cheers mixed with a couple boos, but Typhoon is booed heavily as he walks down to the ring. Typhoon acknowledges the boos by shouting some extremely lame insults at the crowd before stepping into the ring, ready to do battle. The bell rings, and Beefcake and Typhoon start to circle each other, looking warily at the other. Eventually, the two men lock up and hold on tightly, refusing to break from each other. After twenty seconds or so, Beefcake finally pushes Typhoon back. Typhoon shakes his head out, then charges forward and locks up with Beefcake again. Brutus and Typhoon go back and forth again, with the crowd obviously getting annoyed at the match. Eventually, Beefcake wins again and sends Typhoon flying backwards. Typhoon shakes himself out again, and charges towards Beefcake again. This time, Brutus sidesteps him and throws him into the turnbuckle before hitting a sloppy neckbreaker, which gets a 1, 2, not quite as Typhoon manages to kick out.

A small “Boring! Boring!” chant start to break out as Beefcake tries to keep Typhoon grounded with an armbar. However, after a while, Typhoon breaks out of it with an elbow and hits a big punch on Beefcake, which nearly levels him. Typhoon gets his bearings back, then goes and locks a bearhug on Beefcake, which has the crowd moaning. Beefcake reaches for the ropes after 45 seconds or so, and makes Typhoon break the hold. He dodges a clothesline by Typhoon, ducks underneath him, and locks his sleeper hold on. Typhoon starts to get drowsy but throws a back kick out that catches Beefcake squarely in the groin! The ref was shielded and couldn’t see the low blow, but Beefcake is sure feeling the effects of it. His grip loosens on Typhoon, who locks on a front facelock and hits the DDT on Beefcake! Beefcake is down and out, and Typhoon covers for the 1, 2, 3 and the victory to retain his HPW World Title!

Road Agent Notes: Brutus Beefcake didn't really sell very much, which hurt the match rating.

RATING:

CROWD: 46

MATCH: 48

OVERALL: 47

-------------------------------------------------------

Dan Gibraltar Finds A Partner

Mercifully, the match is over, and Dan Gibraltar comes walking out to the ring by himself. Jack Douglas puts over his dilemma, as his tag team partner for tonight’s main event, Feltcher, was put out of commission earlier this evening by the Fabulous Frederick’s famous LEFT-RIGHT-UPPERCUT combo. Gibraltar grabs a microphone (we have two now, mercifully) and gets ready to address the crowd.

Gibraltar: “As you all know by now, Dan Gibraltar has a little bit of an issue regarding tonight’s main event tag match! You see, Feltcher was set to tag with me here tonight, and we were going to show a certain Austin Lee just what happens when you decide to mess with the wrong people! Feltcher and I personify everything that’s right with HPW, and Austin Lee feels the need to run us down! But you see, thanks to Frederick, that won’t be happening tonight! Feltcher has been taken out for the rest of the evening, and now, my partner is gone!”

The crowd boos this, but Gibraltar quickly cuts the crowd off, wanting to make his point.

Gibraltar: “Actually, let me clarify that: I DIDN’T have a partner until about half an hour ago! Because when I was backstage, I was thinking hard about who I could find to tag with me! I went through every option there was! I even thought I would come out here and just do this myself, since I know that I can beat Austin Lee, whoever his partner is, or anyone in all of HPW in a clean, straight-up fight! But then I realized that I COULDN’T beat everyone here in a straight-up, clean wrestling match. So I figured, why not team with the guy who I know could beat me?” The crowd is starting to buzz, anticipating the end of Gibraltar’s speech. “So I asked him if he wanted to tag, and he was perfectly happy to come out here and be my tag team partner tonight! So if you’ll please give my partner a BIG round of applause…”

IF YA SMELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!

The crowd, their wishes fulfilled, explodes in cheers as the Rock comes walking down to the ring, dressed in full ring attire. A small “ROCKY! ROCKY!” chant starts up and grows, overwhelming the small crowd as the Rock poses on the turnbuckle, taking in each and every member of the crowd. Eventually he hops off the turnbuckle, snatches the microphone right out of Gibraltar’s hands, and tips his head back, ready to begin the show.

Rock: “FINALLY…The Rock HAS COME BACK to HOL-LY-WOOD!”

As I wonder whether that line is gonna get old real soon, since we have every damn show in Hollywood, The Rock starts speaking once again, cutting off my train of thought.

Rock:However, The Rock is out here for one reason and one reason only: He wants a chance to lay the smackdown on that jabroni Austin Lee! You see, the Rock wasn’t here last month, but the Rock got a chance to hear exactly what Austin said! Every single word of it! And the Rock has this to say: NOBODY, and the Rock means NOBODY, is going to come into the Rock’s company, belittle the Rock, belittle the company that hired him, and then challenge the Rock himself and live to tell about it!” Another round of cheers breaks out, but Rock isn’t interested in hearing them now, choosing instead to plow ahead and take care of business.

Rock: “So when whatever the hell this guy’s name is…”

Dan: “Dan Gibraltar, Rock!”

Rock: “Right, when Dan Giwhatchamacallit asked the Rock to team with him against Austin Lee and his partner, whoever the blue hell that might be, the Rock agreed to do it! The Rock doesn’t care who Danny Boy over there is, but he cares that he’ll get a chance to show Austin Lee exactly how wrong he is! So bring both their little jabroni candy asses out here, and the Rock is going to show them just how wrong they are about the Rock, and how wrong they are about HPW! IF YA SM….”

Road Agent Notes: Dan "Rock Of" Gibraltar gained 1 point of overness from this segment.

RATING: 81

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The Rock and Dan Gibraltar vs. Austin Lee and ???

Before the Rock can finish the catchphrase, Austin Lee’s voice comes booming over the speaker (actually using a microphone for once):

Austin: “Rock, you better shut your damn mouth! No one wants to hear those tired old catchphrases any more!”

The crowd responds with boos, which Austin Lee quickly moves on.

Austin: “But you know what? I don’t give a crap what you people think! I thought I made that very clear to you people! Boo me all you want! It doesn’t mean that I want to hear the Rock’s goddamn A.D.D.-related ramblings all of a sudden! I just want that pathetic joke of a character to shut his damn mouth once and for all, and to realize there’s a reason he’s no longer welcome in the WWE! He’s the past! The Rock is the past, and I’m the future! I’ll go out there, and I’ll show everyone exactly why I’m better than you! And when I chose my partner for tonight, I wanted someone who would understand exactly what I’m talking about! I wanted someone who realized that you needed to innovate in order to make progress, and to show your real talent! That’s why my partner for tonight is…LUCIEN VAN WURL!”

Lucien’s music hits, and Lucien comes out, holding his own personal paintbrush microphone. He and Austin Lee quickly shake hands, and Lucien begins to talk as the two men walk towards the ring.

Lucien: “You must understand, the greatest among us have suffer-ED for their entire lives! Those who are truly masters of their fields, they shall never be celebra-TED until after their lives have ceas-ED to exist! And Lucien Van Wurl understands that The Rock is nothing special! For when this match is comple-TED, you ignorant peons shall see that Lucien Van Wurl is truly the master, and the Rock is simply another man who has pass-ED his peak!”

With that, Van Wurl and Lee slide into the ring and attack Rock and Gibraltar. The two heels slug away, but Rock and Gibraltar fight back before clearing the ring. Lucien slides in first, and starts off against Dan Gibraltar. Lucien goes for a big move early, but Dan manages to counter Lucien’s powerbomb attempt into a back body drop. Gibraltar hits a clothesline, then picks Lucien up into a gorilla press position, then drops him flat on his face. Lucien reaches out and tags in Austin Lee, who charges and clotheslines Dan to the mat. Austin applies a crucifix armbar, and Dan screams out in pain. Eventually, he makes it to the ropes, but his right arm is in severe pain. Austin charges at Dan again, but Dan sidesteps and hits an armdrag before going down, his right arm throbbing in pain.

Dan reaches out and tries to tag in the Rock, but Austin cuts him off and drags him back into his own corner. He tags in Lucien, and the two men hit a double-team suplex on Gibraltar before Lucien covers, getting a 1, 2, no as Gibraltar kicks out with plenty of time. Lucien grabs Dan and applies a side headlock before running towards the ropes and going for an Acid Drop. However, Dan manages to slip out of the move before Lucien can begin his climb. Lucien jumps onto the turnbuckle and then flies off with a cross body block…..which Gibraltar catches! Dan slinks to his corner, still carrying Van Wurl, and tags in the Rock before hitting a big front slam on Lucien Van Wurl, keeping him down.

Lucien goes for his own corner, but the Rock drags him into the middle of the ring and locks on a Sharpshooter. Lucien is screaming, but Austin Lee makes the save and hits the Rock in the back of the head. Dan Gibraltar goes to take down Austin, but he drills him with a spinebuster before getting onto his corner and calling for Lucien to make the tag. Austin Lee gets the tag and charges into the ring, but the Rock ducks underneath a clothesline attempt before catching Lee on the rebound and PLANTING him with a spinebuster of his own! The Rock waits for Austin Lee to get up, and then hits the Rock Bottom! Lucien Van Wurl comes rushing over, but a spear from Gibraltar brings him back to the mat as the referee counts the 1, 2, 3 for the Rock, giving him and Gibraltar the match! The Rock celebrates with Gibraltar afterwards as Lee and Van Wurl limp to the backstage area, with Austin Lee looking at the two men in the ring with an evil, evil look on his face.

RATING:

CROWD: 52

MATCH: 71

OVERALL: 61

END SHOW

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OVERALL RATING: 61% (there we go!)

ATTENDANCE: HPW Higher Ground was attended by 139 people!

We made $2780 from ticket sales.

----------------------------------------------------------

After the show, Dwayne (still sweaty from his match) came up to me with a business-like look on his face. He asked me to head to his office, and as we stepped in there, I heard some words that I didn’t often hear from Dwayne:

Dwayne: “I’m sorry, Jon.”

Me: “What are you sorry about, Dwayne? Your match was great out there!”

Dwayne: “No, I’m sorry about listening to Dad. I saw that Beefcake/Typhoon match out there tonight…that was brutal, Jon! I…I can’t believe I was the one who wanted to go with that!”

Me: “No, it’s not the end of the world, Dwayne.”

Dwayne: “No, it’s not. But it could have been the end of this promotion. You were right about how to treat things, and we really should have gone that way if we were gonna make a nice new start here. That’s not saying that Dad’s ideas are wrong, though. Bringing in some established names and having a veteran presence on our roster is a good idea, and one I feel strongly about. But this…this was not the time, or the place.”

Me: “So what exactly are you saying, Dwayne?”

Dwayne: “Basically, you’re free to get rid of them if, and when, you want to. After that turd of a match they put up tonight, I get the feeling that they won’t be missed all that much by the fans. And I’ll try and listen to you a little more on the personnel stuff, OK?”

Me: “It’s cool. Is your dad gonna be OK with all this? He was really mad last time I saw him over at the offices last week. I mean, he stormed out! Is he coming back, or what?”

Dwayne: “Yeah, he’ll be back with his tail between his legs. I’ll talk to him tonight and tell him what I saw out there. Basically, he’s gonna have a bit less to do with talent acquisition from now on. He’s still a voice, but in terms of having final say, you’re the man who gets to hire and fire. You two will be equals in terms of writing the show, but you’re the one buying the ingredients from now on unless I, or Tim, says so. Work for you?”

Me: “Yeah, Dwayne, that’s great. I really appreciate this, man. I promise that I won’t let you down."

So I finally had the authority to get rid of Beefcake and Typhoon. After a show like that, things are looking WAY up for HPW. If only the Rock could be there every month, things would be going even better. Here’s hoping that we keep the momentum going, and really do get the revolutionary aspect of HPW to be the focus of our shows. Vince McMahon might not be worried about us when we’re the #35 promotion in North America, but it won’t be too long until we’re #1.

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I love this diary.

I got confused when Jon & Rocky had the meeting, because I thought it was Dwayne. :lol:

Good use of Dwayne/Rock, by the way. You only use him when it's necessary. Good for you! Others would probably use him on every show.

I like how you're building up characters, instead of using already established ones (excluding Typhoon, Beefcake, Rock). Fire Typhoon. Keep Beefcake incase a member of the roster needs a haircut. :P

Anyways, GREAT diary. One of my favorites on the board.

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SATURDAY, JULY 11, 2004

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA

After Tim had given me the go-ahead to get some new guys on board, I went out and scoured the free agent ranks, trying to find some guys to plug in some holes. I had just been struck a tough blow, as I had just gotten off the phone with Paul London. He had handed in his resignation, telling me that he was ready to move on to bigger companies. It was an understandable thing to run into, but that didn’t make it any easier to stomach. London had just put on easily the best match in HPW history with Xstasy, and now he wasn’t going to get a chance to follow up on that. I knew the fans would be disappointed, but they’d understand as well. That’s the way the business works, after all.

However, I had learned a couple of lessons from London’s short time in Hollywood Pro Wrestling. What Rocky had proposed was most certainly the wrong way to try and run a wrestling promotion of this size, but I realized that I had made some major flaws when planning HPW out as well. Namely, I had targeted guys who were fairly big names on the indy scene and locked them up to open contracts. However, as London had shown, they weren’t going to sign written deals, and they weren’t going to stick around for very long either. Therefore, I had to realize that I couldn’t be quite as greedy. I needed to realize that I was the 35th biggest company running, and there was NO ONE smaller than me out there. I can’t hope to be signing the Paul Londons of the world. Instead, I needed to create my own stars, and that meant starting small. The key was to find people who had the tools, but hadn’t been unleashed on the wrestling scene yet. If I used those guys, then I’d get them signed up for a long period of time, I’d have a chance to create my own stars, and my storylines wouldn’t be in a constant state of flux. That was the key to success.

So with this in mind, I hit the free agent lists hard. Eventually, I found three guys out there who looked like they’d be useful to our promotion. They weren’t the guys that Rocky would like, and they weren’t my original top choices either, but they were the key to HPW’s long term success. That kind of guy, I mean. Not them in particular. At least I hope they’re not…

- Christopher Idol (11 Over, Heel, Boy Band): Christopher Idol was a charismatic young guy who had previously been working a blue chipper gimmick, However, that wasn’t the direction we were gonna go with him. I have a deep personal distaste for American Idol, but since about 10% of the country watches it every week, I knew it had some real mainstream appeal. Idol would have a nice boy band gimmick, and he’d make everyone hate him really quickly. He protested at first, since he couldn’t sing at all, but that wasn’t going to be a problem. Not everyone knows who won American Idol, but EVERYONE knows who William Hung is.

- Jason Rumble (14 Over, Face, Street Fighter): Jason Rumble didn’t require a lot of work for his gimmick. He was a rough-and-tumble kid off the street who could really brawl when he needed to, and was definitely a real hard-nosed guy. We decided to just play off that, and we booked him as a kid who grew up on the streets and fought just about every day of his life. Hopefully he’d mesh well with the guys, and we thought he’d be a solid addition to the roster

- Lou Tyler (20 Over, Face, Show Stealer): Lou Tyler was an interesting addition to the roster. He told us up-front that the name Lou Tyler was a total alias. The reason that he wanted the pseudonym was that his father was prominently involved in the wrestling business in one way or another. He wanted a chance to earn his way through on his own merits, so he had totally changed his identity. He asked for a chance, and we were more than willing to give it to him. The guy could really fly when he wanted to, and he was gonna be a real show stealer, in the vein of Xstasy. He’ll be a nice addition to the roster, and will definitely mix well with the rest of the roster.

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OFFICIAL~! Preview For HPW Seek and Destroy

Sunday, July 25, 2004

HPW WORLD TITLE MATCH

Typhoon vs. Xstasy

- Last month, in the best match in HPW’s short history, Xstasy managed to defeat the now-departed Paul London to win the #1 Contendership to the HPW World Title! Also at Higher Ground, Typhoon beat Brutus Beefcake in a World Title match (that was NOT the Match of the Year). Now, Xstasy gets his chance at the title. Can Typhoon hang on to the belt he’s held since HPW’s inception, or will Typhoon be the next person to experience the Joy of X?

HPW WORLD TITLE #1 CONTENDER’S MATCH (1 OF 3)

Austin Lee vs. Feltcher

- Now that Xstasy is getting his shot at the title, there’s a lack of competition for the belt. Therefore, Hollywood Pro Wrestling has decided to hold three #1 Contender matches, with a four corners match scheduled for HPW One Man Army in August. This will be the first of the matches, as Feltcher gets his chance at revenge against Austin Lee now that his jaw has healed. Will Lee be triumphant once again, or can Feltcher get a shot at the HPW World Title?

HPW WORLD TITLE #1 CONTENDER’S MATCH (2 OF 3)

Dan Gibraltar vs. Chance Beckett

- Dan Gibraltar is flying high after putting up a big victory against Austin Lee and Lucien Van Wurl. However, the Rock isn’t going to be part of this match. Dan Gibraltar will be going for his first singles win in HPW history. However, Chance Beckett is going to have an opportunity to get his hands on the HPW World Title as well! Now Dan Gibraltar is going to get his chance at the big time!

HPW WORLD TITLE #1 CONTENDER’S MATCH (3 OF 3)

Fabulous Frederick vs. Bruce Lancaster

- This is the third of three matches for the HPW World Title #1 Contendership, and promises to be an excellent matchup. Frederick has been knocking out everything in his path, but Bruce Lancaster is looking to be the first man to change that streak. Will Bruce Lancaster be ready for the big time, or will Frederick prove that Bruce should have stayed back at KTTV?

BRUCE’S BEAT

This Week’s Guest: Christopher Idol

- Before Bruce’s match, he’ll host another edition of the award-winning* interview series Bruce’s Beat! Bruce will have an interview with one of the newest additions to the HPW roster, Christopher Idol! What will Idol have to say about his HPW debut? Tune in to Bruce’s Beat in order to find out exactly what Idol has to say!

AND MORE!

Sunday, July 25, 2004!

Hollywood, California!

HPW SEEK AND DESTROY!

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Looks good. I hope Danny gets the win. I like his charecter the most. Bruce Lancaster as number one contender? Ha! Frederick is going to clean him out. Feltcher = Weirdo.

Edited by Hajjhowe
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